The Gathering of the Four
by George J. Valtom
Summary: A Viking who can ride on dragonback; a princess with a healing gift; a warrior from a wooded kingdom; a queen who commands ice at a whim; a cursed ring, found lying in a tidal pool; and a prophecy that chains them all together. The Guardians find themselves scrambling to collect them, for dark forces are already at play, and an ancient evil is reaching to return. A LOTR crossover.
1. Gifts

_Just a few quick notes:_

 _This story draws from Tangled, Brave, How to Train Your Dragon (1 and 2), Rise of the Guardians, and Frozen. All these films and their events are considered canon with my story._

* * *

The night was warm, and the water around Corona quietly lapped against the shores. Shades of dark blue bled to black in the sky above, and a swift wind pushed the clouds along as the moon kept vigil over the kingdom. A bridge reached across the water, rising to a peak in its middle, connecting the castle to the mainland. A pointed arch lifted itself over where the bridge met the island, with a solid gate shutting out the world beyond. Scaffolding branched out to either side - the stonemasons were laboring to construct a set of proper walls for the city, by the king's demand. Their tools and work lay still now, though, and the only people near the gate were two guards, standing with their pikes.

"It was weird," one guard said. "The horse just landed right in front of me, wearing this dress, and these shoes-"

"Horses are supposed to wear shoes, Matthew."

"But horseshoes, not high heels. And this horse was wearing high heels, I swear! And then it ran off, after what I don't know. I tried to follow it, but it it disappeared before I could. Then I saw this lizard-"

"Matthew?"

"Yes Captain?"

"You realize this isn't your social hour?"

He blinked. "Uh, yes sir."

"Thank you. Now, keep your eyes on the bridge, and keep your mouth shut." He peered down the way, and furrowed his brow. "That's odd…"

The bridge was lit with lanterns, but at the moment they were slowly dying out, their flames shrinking and dimming.

"Here, take the oil and fill them up. They must be running low."

"Yes sir." Matthew leaned his pike against the stone, then turned and went inside the gate, found a container of oil, and came back to the bridge. Now the lanterns had almost extinguished, with only the barest pinpricks of light still showing. He stepped forward to the first pair on the left of the path, and lifted the covering off of one of the lights.

He heard an animal snort at the far end of the bridge.

"Someone's coming," the captain whispered. He gripped his pike.

"Don't worry sir, it's just a late-night traveler, I'm sure." He peered into the lantern's reservoir, and was surprised to find it still full. "Hey, it's not the oil. Do you have any wicks with you? I don't think I have any on me, but I'll just replace it and maybe-"

"Matthew."

He turned around at the captain's voice, and looked down the bridge. A churning cloud smothered the moonlight, just as a rider crested the hill in the bridge, seeming to appear right out of the shadows.

Matthew forgot the lantern as the horseman came forward. His black hood matched his horse, and his face could not be seen. His flowing robe left no part of his body exposed. Two hands clad in iron clutched the reins of his mount as he approached.

Then a second rider appeared behind him, just as dark and just as suddenly.

"Who goes there?" the captain demanded.

Matthew watched as the first rider slowly clopped his way up to the gate, prompting the captain to become more defensive, pike at the ready. The hood slowly turned, and a hissing voice sounded from within:

"We seek audience with the princess of Corona. We bring a gift from a far land, and we offer friendship. Open the gate, and let us pass into the kingdom to meet her."

The voice chilled Matthew - quite literally bringing a slight physical chill to his heart. He tried to shrug off the feeling, and he saw the captain clutch his pike tighter.

"Here," Matthew stepped forward. "I'll let you in and show you to the castle." The two hoods turned to face him, casting a shiver up his spine. "Come with me."

"Matthew…" The captain shook his head. "No."

"We are a foreign envoy!" The voice came forth again. "Have us come before your princess, and allow us only present our offering to her."

"You say you're a foreign envoy," the captain said. "Where are you from?"

"Our business shall be considered none of your affair. Only know that our lord wishes to offer his friendship to Corona, that it might unfold into a great kingdom that all shall envy."

"Sir," Matthew piped up, "they are just messengers."

The captain looked from hood to hood, and finally sighed, standing his pike back up. "Very well. We shall escort you to the castle."

And the two riders entered through the gates.

* * *

A long road stretched out of Corona to the southwest; it passed through villages and cities, where it was paved with smooth stones, and through hills and forests, where it devolved into packed dirt. Eventually it ran into a vast roaring ocean to the west and stopped. Across this ocean, the Isle of Berk lay in peaceful slumber, dragons and humans deep in sleep.

Only two were still awake.

Hiccup hunched over Toothless as they soared through the air with only the faintest sound, gliding around the island. A bout of insomnia had persuaded them to try some late-night flying. So far, it seemed to be working - the wind softly blew through Hiccup's hair, and the crashing ocean waves below soothed his mind.

"How you doin', bud?" He kept his voice soft, even though there was no chance of waking anyone at this height. Toothless grumbled back in contentment. "Wanna try a few loops?"

After a delighted snort from the dragon, Hiccup shifted the fin and leaned back. The Night Fury lifted up, now pointing straight into the sky, now completely upside down. Hiccup felt his stomach flip and the blood rush to his head. He closed his eyes and breathed in the clean night air.

"Ha, that feels good." He shook his hair as they came back right side up. "Here, we better head back home. Mom's gonna have us up in the morning." They banked in a wide curve, ready to return back to the village. Hiccup felt guilty that he had to bring their flight to an end, and he tried to enjoy the last few minutes of it. As they passed around the back end of Berk, he watched how the moonlight struck the rocks, painting them almost silver. The foam of the waves crashed against the stacks rising out of the ocean, battered the cliffs of the island, washed into the cave-

"Huh." Hiccup stared as they began to fly past a dark cave that bored into and under the island - a cave he had never really noticed before. Dozens of rocks surrounded its entrance, effectively barring any ship from drawing near. He figured that this had kept any Vikings from actually charting this place, and a rousing sense of curiosity filled him…

"Hey Toothless," the dragon looked back at him, "do you wanna go look around in there a bit, before we get back?" A happy grin answered. "Alright, let's go!"

The two dived through the air, with Toothless slowing their descent just as they neared the opening. The cave opened in a massive chasm, its mouth reaching halfway up the cliffside. The floor sloped upwards out of the water and faded into darkness in the back. Hiccup dismounted, and felt fishbones crunch beneath his feet. He shuddered.

"Ugh…" He looked around. "Hello? Anyone here?"

No answer besides his own echo.

"Toothless, can you see anything?"

The Night Fury shot a gentle bolt of plasma, which traveled deep into the cave before it puffed into a spark at the back. The purple light revealed no one and nothing of particular importance.

"Huh. I guess dragons used to come here and eat during the raids." Hiccup stooped and picked a piece of aged fabric from the ground. "At least, I hope 'used to'." Looking around, he saw more shreds of clothing scattered over the stones of the cave floor. There were also more fish bones, but no human skeletons at least.

"We'll have to come back when it's daylight, maybe bring Astrid. What do you think, bud?"

Toothless seemed distracted though. He had turned around and now hunched over by the water's edge, staring at something.

Hiccup came up beside him. "Hey, what'd you find?"

The Night Fury didn't look up, but warbled softly. Hiccup followed his gaze into a small tidal pool, and saw a glint of gold.

"What?" He bent down, curled his fingers around the trinket, and lifted it from the water. He held the item out in his palm, wet sand caked to it, and stared at it along with Toothless.

It was a ring - a plain band of the most flawless quality. It had no jewel set in it, but its simplicity gave it more elegance. Hiccup ran his finger around its edge, gazing at it; even in the dim bluish tones of night, the ring gleamed a brilliant, hypnotic gold.

"Wow…" he breathed, "It's amazing." Toothless purred, his eyes never leaving the ring. They both stood there for a long while, watching it. Hiccup brought it close to his eyes, wanting to see as much of it as possible. He felt lucky to have found this ring, almost blessed by the gods. Already he felt as if it was one of the most important things he had ever possessed. It seemed his size...he could easily slip it on, he could see that…

 _Bugdu zag..._

A dark voice spoke the words, which echoed around him. Hiccup shook his head, snapping himself from his trance.

"Here, uh..." He hesitated for a moment before pocketing the trinket, causing Toothless to also return to reality. "Come on, let's get home, alright? We'll take care of it later. I guess it's a good thing we stopped by the cave, huh?"

With that, he mounted the dragon and the two took off.

* * *

Rapunzel held her candle in one hand as she came to the sitting room. A light shone from inside under the door. She laid her hand on the handle, and pushed it open.

"Father?"

She found him sitting over a map, his own candle on the table beside him. He looked up at her voice; his eyes appeared tired and worn.

"Rapunzel," he stood up. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"

"No, don't worry. Eugene is still asleep, I just...I saw the lantern light go by my door, and I thought-"

"Oh, I'm sorry I woke you." He crossed the floor, and gently left a kiss on the top of her forehead. "I'm just worried, that's all, and I couldn't sleep."

Rapunzel nodded; she had heard plenty of her father's worries. "Well, when the walls go up, that'll make things better, right?"

"That's right. With the waters of the lake and the walls behind them, we'll be secure. And with the patrols out and around," he motioned over the map, "we'll be able to break up any hordes before they can attack us."

Rapunzel looked over the map herself. Corona sat up near the top right corner of the map, with a road heading southwest towards Weselton, and Arendelle lying on the shore far to the west. A river strung them all together, flowing from the great Lake Corona to the ocean fjord that Arendelle sat on. To the north, snowy mountains blocked any exploration, and to the distant south below Weselton a dark forest filled with savages claimed any scouts sent into it. Then there were the deserts to the east, and the Ash Mountains directly to the south of Corona.

The mountains that had been shadowed for years, according to her father.

Living in the tower, Rapunzel had never seen the Ash Mountains, but when she finally had the chance to glimpse them, she marveled at how the black clouds hugged the tops of the peaks, which were bare and devoid of life. From what she had heard, the clouds had grown even thicker recently, and an occasional flash of flame could be seen. It had been at this time that strange individuals had been seen roaming the countryside, forming bands and causing trouble…

Rapunzel shivered, and tried again to comfort her father, mostly to comfort herself. "Don't worry, whatever it is, we can take care of it."

"Thank you. I just," he sighed as he hung his head, "my nerves have just been eating at me. I want to protect Corona…"

"And you will. I'm sure of it." She saw a weak smile return to his face, and she grinned and gave him a hug. "It'll all be alright."

"Thank you." He returned the gesture. "I'm just going to look over the maps a bit more. Why don't you go to bed, and tomorrow we'll do something together?"

"I'd like that."

He smiled through his thick beard. "Good night."

Rapunzel quietly closed the door behind her as she left the sitting room. Going down the corridor to her and Eugene's room, the flickering candlelight made the details in the woodwork leap out at her. Finally she returned to the room, and grasped the door handle.

She froze.

A folded note sat on the floor.

Bending, she set her candle down. Then, with slow fingers, she picked up the paper.

A ring slipped from inside and fell to the ground.

Rapunzel paused and stared for a while, before also plucking it from the carpet. She looked at the ring, then to the note. She read:

 _Princess Rapunzel of Corona -_

 _We bestow this gift unto you at the behest of a benefactor who wishes, at the moment, to remain hidden. Please accept this ring as a symbol of friendship, and we shall return when our Lord plans to make himself known to you._

There was no signature, and the handwriting was sharp. Rapunzel then directed her attention to the ring.

It was fashioned from three strands of gold, which had been braided together. Nestled into each knot in the braid was a small diamond, each giving a muted sparkle. The work was expert, and she could find no fault in the design.

She looked up and down the hallway, but saw no one. Her gaze lingered on what she thought to be a strange gliding shadow, but she ended up dismissing it as nothing.

"Eugene…" she whispered with a smirk. She was sure that this was some game of his, and so she put on the ring to play along.

She gasped as her heart suddenly leapt, and she clutched at her head, which began to pain terribly. The ring grew hot on her finger, and the hallway started to glow.

No. Her hair started to glow.

Too shocked for words, she felt her hair with her hands as it grew from her scalp. The short brown straightened into blond again. Her head felt worse and worse, it would split open from the pain, she knew it. She squeezed her eyes shut as the glow grew stronger.

Then it stopped.

Opening her eyes, Rapunzel grabbed her hair, now down to her waist, just as it had been before it was cut.

She looked at the ring on her finger, and the note.

She knocked the candle aside in her excitement.

"Eugene!"


	2. The Grip Tightens

_Sorry for a late post, I've been catching up with a BIG opportunity! I'll share it with all of you once it goes through._

* * *

Sunlight pierced through Hiccup's window, prompting his eyelids to slowly pull open. He sat up in bed, letting the covers slip off, and rubbed the sleep from his face.

"Unhhhhh…" He blinked around his room, watching as Toothless leapt from his stone bed. "Mornin' Toothless." He rubbed the top of the dragon's head. "Looks like we're up before Mom's wake-up call. Wanna take a run over the ocean before we have to get to work?"

Toothless bounded around the room, wriggling in excitement. Hiccup chuckled as he got up from bed and grabbed his shirt. He was just pulling it over his head when his memory clicked.

He grabbed his flat pillow and tossed it to the end of his bed. "Please be there…"

Indeed it was. The golden ring had not been a dream, and it still sat where he had hidden it last night. It was just as beautiful as he had remembered - even more so, he thought. Holding the ring up between his fingers, it seemed that the sunlight itself was made lovelier just for being able to touch it.

"There it is, bud. Right where we left it." He brought it closer to his face. "Amazing that we just found it out there, huh? I wonder who left it there. I mean, who could bear to lose this?"

Hiccup toyed around with it in his right hand, and slowly brought up his left. Just his size, he judged...before he knew it, he was slipping it over his finger...

A knock sounded on his door. "Hiccup?"

The shock jolted him, and with a gasp he snatched the ring away from his left hand. "I'm up, Mom! I'll be out soon." He shook his head, still panting as he clutched the ring. For a second there, he almost couldn't think. There were no thoughts in his head, like he was acting as a puppet, without any awareness. He glanced at Toothless, who looked back with eyes full of concern.

"I dunno what that just was…" Again he shook his head, trying to get his bearings. "Maybe too much of a good thing? Here," he tucked the ring into a pocket in his armor, just above his chest. "Just for safekeeping."

He spoke to convince himself as much as to reassure Toothless.

"Come on."

* * *

Hours later, he was in Gobber's shop, putting the finishing touches on Bucket's new saddle.

"Alright, here you go," Hiccup heaved it up with both arms and brought it to the window, ducking to avoid a pair of metal tongs hanging from the ceiling. "A single-seater, with extra pockets and a sealing finish." He laid it on the counter. Bucket was clapping his hands together in delight, making Hiccup smile.

"It's PERFECT! Thank you, thank you!" He hauled it over his shoulder, clumsily trying to balance it. "Seeya, chief!"

Hiccup raised his hand in farewell. Chief...it still sounded so alien, being directed to him. He sighed, and looked out the window. Only a few people coming up and down the path, and no one in line at the shop.

He took a deep breath and sighed again. The brisk air brought a refreshing sea salt scent to his nose, and looking up at the sky he felt the sun's warmth on his cheeks. A couple of Terrible Terrors fluttered by, chirping at each other. Hiccup watched them, following as they flew down the path, where a couple of men were hauling lumber for a new hut being built on the edge of the village.

"Hiya, Hiccup!" They called out in greeting, and again he raised his hand as they walked past. He rubbed his hands with a dirty cloth, and retreated deeper into the shop to clean up a bit.

"Not real busy today, huh?" Gobber was polishing his dental equipment when Hiccup walked past. "If you have anythin' else to do, I can cover the stall."

"Nah, chiefing's pretty slow right now too, especially since the Berserkers went quiet." He tried to get Toothless' attention away from the basket he had his head buried in. "I have to help organize the Midsummer festival, we're having the meeting tonight. By the way, are you still going to be helping roast fish this year?"

"Aye! Got my spearing attachment all ready!"

"Great. But yeah, other than that, just little things here and there right now."

"Better than the alternative, eh?" He finished cleaning his hammer and moved to his small pair of tongs. "Tell you what, you go and get out of here for a while. Go flyin', go see Astrid. Anythin' but stayin' 'ere when you don't need to be. Grump and I will be fine on our own."

"Gee, are you sure, Gobber?"

"Did I phrase it as a question? Go find somethin' excitin' to do!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going." Hiccup chuckled as he hung up his apron and left the shop, with Toothless behind. "Well, we're free. What do you wanna do?"

Suddenly he felt a pang of panic - he slapped his hand to his chest.

"Hold on a moment -"

Had he left the ring in the shop?! What if it was lost? What if Gobber found it and decided to keep it?

After a second of fumbling, though, Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief as he extracted the ring from his pocket. Toothless cooed and came closer, eager to gaze at it more.

"Here," Hiccup retreated so that he was sheltered between two huts. He didn't feel like sharing this treasure quite yet, so he wanted no one to see it. It was indeed quite exquisite, and he didn't want anyone to grow jealous. And why shouldn't they?

Leaning against the wall of the hut, gazing into his cupped hand with Toothless standing nearby, running his finger around the golden band, he felt as if it were the most precious thing he had ever found.

* * *

Night fell again on the land, yet the Duchy of Weselton still brimmed with life. The bustling city defied the curtain of twilight with hundreds of bright lanterns - any time the river ports weren't functioning was time wasted and made unprofitable! Wagons burdened with either goods or gold departed in every direction, traveling from fief to county to duchy and back again. Then there were the ships.

When they had been embargoed by Arendelle, Weselton had scrambled to find new partners to make up for the loss in trade. They had successfully found those partners in Corona, and now the river teemed with activity again eastward - ships sailed up the river to Corona, and folded their sails to drift back home downstream. Of course, the arrangement had compounded the political tensions between Corona and Arendelle, adding on to arguments surrounding the Great Winter Crisis which still served as a point of contention.

In the midst of it all, Weselton only grew richer. It was a town where it seemed everything could be bought and sold - or rather, had to be bought and sold. Even travelers merely looking for passage had to pay for the privilege of cutting through the town. The toll guards were sorely disliked by the citizens, and they were all certain that the idea of toll roads would never last.

On this particular night, one such guard outside the eastern wall of the duchy was pacing back and forth, whistling a tune to himself, when he heard a great thundering of hooves in the distance. He realized that they might try to storm through without paying, so he positioned himself squarely in the road with his lantern clutched in his hand. His thick moustache bristled, and he held himself high in his crimson trenchcoat.

"Halt!" He recited, "No passage without levy!"

The riders seemed to leap into view, and they pulled the reins sharply, forcing their horses to slow to a trot. They were dressed in flowing black, with iron gauntlets and invisible faces.

There were seven total.

Their sudden appearance put off the guard a bit, along with the strange the way they seemed to stare at him, but he still kept a commanding tone: "One kroner per person, and another per mount. That will be fourteen for all of you."

One of the riders approached, and spoke. "What place is this?"

"The Sovereign Duchy of Weselton. That'll be fourteen kroner."

The horseman gave no indication of considering payment. "Which way to Arendelle?"

"Ugh, I don't know why you want to go there. They have some demonic ice witch as their queen. Whatever you're looking for, I'm sure you can find it here."

"I _insist_ that we find the way to Arendelle." The voice made very clear that no compromise was acceptable.

The toll guard sighed. "If you go in the city, this road will fork. Take the one on the right, it'll lead you northwest to Arendelle. There are signs along the-"

Two of the riders snapped their reins, and raced through the gate.

"Hey, hey!" The guard yelled as they rode away. "I hope you're planning to pay me for their passage!"

"Which way to DunBroch?"

"To where?"

"The Kingdom of DunBroch!"

The guard shook his head. "There's no such place. If you're just going to play games, then get out of here!" And he drew his sword, indicating the conversation was over.

The frontmost rider seemed to clutch the reins tight in anger. Then he released them.

He dismounted from the horse, landing with a clatter on his feet.

The hooded figure approached, and suddenly the guard felt an intense fear grip him. The rider seemed to grow larger in his eyes; a blackness covered his vision. The voice came again, hateful now, chilling to the soul.

"Where is the Dark Forest?"

The guard felt his hands shaking, his sword wavering. "It's...it's to the south. If you go to the second fork, turn left, it leads to the forest. But there's nothing there except savages and monsters!"

The darkness grew stronger in his eyes. Far away he heard his sword clatter onto the road, some nightmarish visions passed before his eyes, and he collapsed onto the ground, leaving the five remaining riders to race south. He was still unconscious when, only minutes before dawn the next day, two more horsemen riding from Corona leapt over his body and raced through the town.


	3. Strange Folk

_Sorry for the late post, but things will be coming more regularly from now on. I have fantastic news to share though - my writing is going to be featured in an online series produced by DreamWorks! I signed the contract this week, and my work will be used for three episodes. I'll let you know more as I find it out._

* * *

"See anything, Angus?"

Merida shielded her eyes with her hand as she looked down the dirt path, her horse peering along with her. She thought she had seen something move...but maybe it was nothing.

A year ago, she would have dismissed it. But now she peered hard into the greenery, looking for any sign of intruders. Ever since the strange people had started showing up, Merida, and the kingdom as a whole, had been put on edge. That's why she jumped when she heard the voice.

"'Ello!"

She sighed, clutching her chest. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry, Princess." A scout rode up on horseback, wearing a faded tunic with a brown belt across his torso. "Someone wants to see you back at the castle, I'll take over patrol."

"Right, thank you Alasdair." With that, she wheeled her horse around and raced away, still scanning the bushes for any of the raiders. All she saw were the trees and bushes, still and silent, their branches and crowns bowing from an unseen weight.

Soon she rode Angus over the bridge and in through the gates of Castle DunBroch. The grounds were more crowded even than before she had left that day - people were flocking to the safety of the walls. As a result, she had to carefully steer her horse through the maze of makeshift lean-to's, and finally arrived at the gate for the inner castle. She left Angus in the stables and proceeded to the Great Hall.

"Dad?" She came in and saw Fergus sitting in his simple wooden throne. "What is it? Why'd you call me back?" Then she looked closer at his face. "Ohhhh."

Merida watched as her father slowly stood from his seat and came towards her. His face was sunken in quiet despondency, and had been for some time. He looked at her for a long while before he spoke. "How was patrol today?"

"All clear, didn't see any of the raiders." She looked at his eyes, which slid away in their sadness. "Having a hard time today?"

Fergus took a furtive glance around the hall, making sure they were alone, before he rested his forehead on his hand and began to cry. "I just miss her so much..."

"Oh Dad," she rubbed his shoulder, trying to make him feel better.

The past several months had taken a toll on him. It has started with the strange creatures and their arrival. At first there were just whispers of shadows in the woods, then rumors of half-men breaking into houses, chasing children. Finally a farmer killed one and dragged it to the castle, saying that it had killed a horse and tried eating it uncooked. All of DunBroch gaped at the horrid thing; it resembled a man, but only barely. Its skin, instead of a light tan, dark brown, or some blend in between, was grey and sickly. The teeth were jutting from its mouth, and the head was shaped in a grotesque manner. After it had been taken away, the castle reeked of rot for a week.

The creatures' presence grew worse and worse, but the tipping point came one day when Queen Elinor, after taking an afternoon stroll around the walls, found herself ambushed by a group of archers. She barely made her way back inside, but her wounds ultimately proved fatal, dying before the next morning came. Ever since, Fergus had nearly driven himself to exhaustion pursuing the strange creatures that had orchestrated her death.

Dealing with the menace had already weighed upon Fergus, and the death of his wife only compounded his troubles. Merida now could hardly remember the last time she had seen him joyous, so long had he worn the mask of gloom. In fact, his despair seemed to seep into the entire castle, and all in DunBroch began to feel melancholy weighing on them, Merida herself included. Even the triplets had little energy for antics anymore.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to comfort him again. "I know that you miss her, Dad. I miss Mom too. But she wouldn't want you to be sad like this. It's just a hard time, that's all. You've been through hard times before, and I'll help you along." He looked at her, and she thought her approach was working. "Why, I'll bet that in a year, all of this will be behind us, and your heroic stoicism will be woven onto a massive tapestry, for generations to see!"

He managed to give a small smile. "Ha, you really think so? I'll deserve a tapestry?"

"Uh huh. But first you got to get us through this. Tapestries don't come cheap, you know!"

Fergus sighed. "Thank you, darling." He appeared a bit more cheerful, but his eyes were still filled with that deep-rooted sadness that Merida knew re-emerge again. She tried one more tactic to keep his spirits up.

"Just try to keep your mind on other business. The barley harvest will be in soon, and the sheep will be perfectly fattened up not long after. And hey! Don't forget the Macintoshes, and the other clans, they're dealing with the raiders too. Between the four of us, they won't stand a chance. You're not alone," she emphasized again. "It's going to be alright."

Fergus nodded without a word, his eyes still not convinced. Finally he gestured out of the hall. "I called you from patrol because you have visitors. They're waiting in the gardens, they said they had to speak with you."

"Thanks Dad. And hey," she got his attention, "stay strong." With that, she turned and left the Great Hall, heading to the gardens. As she opened the wide double doors that led outside, her visitors turned to face her.

There were five of them, all tall and hooded in black cloaks, so that their faces were invisible. She was startled by their unusual appearance, and as they looked at her, she found herself on edge.

"Come closer," one of them slowly extended his arm as he called in a soft voice. "Princess Merida of DunBroch?"

"Yes..." she stayed a good distance away from them, and found her hand itching for her bow.

The frontmost one of the figures stepped forward, keeping his arms close and his head down, like he was trying to shelter himself from the elements. "We wish to gift to you a token of our lord and master, a sign of his friendship."

"Alright, and your lord and master is…?"

"We cannot name him now, he does not wish to be known. But accept this, and wear it well."

Suddenly he jerked his head up, staring across the garden, past the castle and to the sea to the west. His four companions also glanced in the same direction. Merida tried to look at what got their attention, but could see nothing of note.

Finally the figure turned back, his voice cold and urgent. "How do we cross the ocean? It is vital!"

"Well, we have a shipyard down the path a while," she tried to trace along the distant coastline, to where a number of small boats were coming into harbor. "But be careful. Real far west, on the Barbaric Archipelago, there are these nasty Vikings, vicious brutes. Don't go out that far."

The figure did not respond, but instead produced something from his cloak, holding it out to Merida. "Accept this token, please."

Merida took it with ginger fingers. She had been handed a silver ring, decorated with vines and leaves. It was adorned with a swirl, in the center of which an oval amethyst gleamed.

"Oh wow, it's lovely-"

She looked up to thank the five of them, but they had vanished.

* * *

Astrid shoved open the door to the house, her face set and severe. She saw Valka look up from the saddle she was polishing.

"Oh dear," she chuckled, "what did he do now?"

"Missed our lunch together, which we've planning for a week." Astrid scoffed and shook her head. "Where is he?"

"He's been in his room all day." Valka stood up, taking her saddle with her. "Can I stay, or should I let you two have a moment?" Foreseeing the answer, she edged out the door behind Astrid, trying to conceal her amused smile as she left.

Astrid climbed the stairs to Hiccup's room and, not bothering to knock, threw his door open. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third!"

He was sitting at his desk, hunched over something, with Toothless by his side. The sudden tumult prompted them to whip around. Hiccup nearly fell out of his seat, and his fist flew behind his back. "Astrid! Astrid, hi! Hey, Astrid, uh, I wasn't expecting you-"

"No, but I've been expecting you. Did you forget something?"

His eyes darted back and forth, searching his memory, and suddenly he looked out the window. "Oh my gods, the time. That was today, oh, I'm sorry Astrid."

"Hm." She crossed her arms, but her anger had cooled. "Well, if you were busy, the least you could have done is let me know."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry." Astrid offered him a hand and pulled him up to his feet. "I've just been a bit busy the past few days, and the time got away from me."

"I know, I haven't seen you or Toothless out much recently." She looked up at the Night Fury, who seemed relieved that the atmosphere was easing up - he could take on an armada of ships, perhaps, but he didn't dare intervene when Astrid and Hiccup had a disagreement. "What's been going on?"

"Oh, you know, just busy with chiefing duties." Hiccup laughed, ran his hand through his hair, all the usual signs he was hiding something. "If it's not one thing, it's another, and the time just slips away."

"Mhm," she nodded. "What do you have behind your back?"

Hiccup's smile disappeared. "What?"

"You're hiding something behind your back." She gestured to his left hand, which was indeed hidden. "What do you got?"

"I don't have anything."

"Now don't you lie to me, what do you have?" She tried to circle around him, and he turned to keep his hand hidden. Toothless lumbered around the both of them. "C'mon, show me!"

"Nothing, I swear!" But by his voice, he seemed close to changing his mind. Astrid stopped him with a finger on his chest.

"Hiccup," she looked into his eyes with a half-stern, half-joking look. "You let me see it."

He sighed. "Fine, but just a look." He produced his hand, and opened his fingers, revealing a golden ring.

Astrid gasped. "Chiefing duties, yeah right!" She snatched the ring up, much to Hiccup's dismay. "Oh, it's beautiful. And, aw," she looked at him, "I went and ruined your surprise." She glanced down at the ring again. "When were you planning to pop the question?"

"Er, yeah," Hiccup fidgeted, "thing is, this isn't a wedding ring." Astrid's joy deflated instantly as she looked up. "I'm still getting all that stuff figured out, before we actually get a ceremony planned. This, though," he tried to take back the ring, which Astrid kept away, "is just something I found, sorry."

"Oh." Astrid tried not to let her disappointment show too clearly. An awkward silence filled the room, until she broke it. "Where did you find it?"

"A few nights ago, Toothless and I were flying, we stopped to explore this old cove we've never seen before, and this was lying in a tidal pool."

"Huh." She held it up, noticing that his eyes never left it. "You know, I think it's just my size."

"I dunno about that. Here, let me see it." He reached again for it, and she shooed his hand away.

"I can try it on, thank you. Look, see, it slips right on."

As soon as it had fit around her finger, though, the room changed. She gasped and backed away as the room seemed to suddenly fill with fog. Hiccup and Toothless transformed into pale shadows, their shapes hardly visible. The world had fallen silent.

Above it all, though, she felt a grip of terror, like something was watching her, or searching for her. A gaze drew near, a gaze she knew she didn't want to rest on her. Astrid turned round and round, looking for her hunter, but saw nothing through the haze. Her back slammed into a wall, and with a cry she wrenched the ring from her hand.

Hiccup's room was restored to clarity, and the boy and his dragon again took form. They both glanced at Astrid and ran to her as she panted for breath. "Astrid, what happened!?"

"I...I don't know, did you see it too?"

"I didn't see anything! One second you were there, and the next you had vanished!"

"What? I was invisible?"

They both stared down at the ring, still clutched in Astrid's hand. Toothless flattened his ears against his head, warbling softly.

Hiccup wondered aloud, "What is this thing?"

* * *

The sun was setting, and a full moon began to rise with the twilight as Jack leapt over the branches of the forest. With grand sweeps of his staff, he left a thin frost that alighted on the leaves of the trees and the shrubs underneath them. Nothing too heavy-handed - it was only late spring, after all. Jack figured, though, that a freak cold snap wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Just to shake things up a bit," he grinned to himself as the forest sparkled in the growing moonlight. "I wonder if I could get away with a little snow by the Dingwalls?" He stopped and sat on a particularly high branch, kicking his feet in the air. "Anything to liven this place up, for sure."

Sure enough, the forest had been unusually quiet the past few weeks. Jack could hardly spot a deer, and he rarely heard the mockingbirds' song any more. Even the trees themselves didn't dare to sway in the breeze.

Looking out over the moonlit treetops, Jack felt a slight worry grow in his mind. Something was wrong, he could feel it. But perhaps it was nothing…

With a sigh, he fell forward out of the tree, and swooped up into the air, looking around for a group of small mountains. He spotted it behind him to his right, a collection of small worn peaks that sheltered a valley within it - Bunnymund's Warren. Perhaps all he needed was a chat to clear his head and set himself at ease.

Jack flew and landed in the middle of the green, right where the eggs ran during the Easter season. "Hey Bunny!" He called out, leaning his staff against his shoulder. "Bunny! Are you here? I need to talk to you."

He only heard his own voice echoing against the walls of the Warren. Other than that, there was only the whistling of the wind.

Feeling put off, Jack lifted into the air again, quiet and thoughtful. This was the third time in a row he'd come to see Bunny, and found no one. Normally he was up at night, working on his preparations for Easter. The lack of activity bothered Jack even further.

He landed on another tree, putting his staff over his shoulder again. "This is weird," he muttered. "I guess Bunny's planning something, or…?" Running over possible explanations, though, he couldn't really find one that fully satisfied him. Too many questions needed answering...

Suddenly he felt compelled to look up, and doing so Jack stared into the light of the moon.

"Well, it's been a while." Jack leaned on his staff now, cracking a grin. "I guess this is something big, if you're getting mixed up here. What's going on?"

The Man in the Moon didn't speak with words, but somehow Jack understood without hearing. His usually jovial expression vanished as a pang of alarm and dread filled him.

"What's happening? I...I don't understand."

Suddenly an image flashed before his eyes. He yelled, nearly falling backwards out of the tree. His grip tightened on his staff, and he glanced back up in fear.

"Oh no…"

For just an instant, the serene moonlight and twinkling stars had vanished, consumed with fire. There had been a hellish scream, and where the round of the moon had been, a hateful glare...

"Has it been found?"

The Moon stared back.

"Where is it?"

His breath coming fast, Jack leapt into the air and flew west.


	4. A Song and a Snowball

"Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine…"

Rapunzel sung softly as she wound her hair around the hands of a poor old woman who stood trembling before her. Behind the woman, a line of people stretched across the square, leading to the fountain where the princess sat.

"Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine…" She pressed her eyes closed, but even through her eyelids she could see the golden light flow from her scalp and down her hair. "Heal what has been hurt, change the fate's design; save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine."

With that, she slowly unwrapped the hands. The old woman looked at them in amazement, flexing her fingers.

"They don't hurt anymore! And look!" She held them up in joy. "It's like they're twenty years younger, not even a single blemish. Oh, thank you, Princess." She flung her arms around Rapunzel, who laughed in her surprise and delight.

"It was my pleasure." The old woman hurried away now, and the next person in line came up, a tall man being led by a child, presumably his daughter. "Well hello there!" Rapunzel smiled and addressed the girl. "What's the matter with you?"

She said nothing, but looked up at her father, who knelt on the ground. "Princess, please, if the stories I have heard are true…" Now Rapunzel saw his eyes; the black of the pupils had grown milky, "restore my sight to me, if you may."

Rapunzel cradled his head, and held her hair up to his eyes. "Flower, gleam and glow…"

As the magic worked, Eugene came up behind her, crossing his arms as he watched her recite the song.

"...save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine." When she had finished, Rapunzel drew her hair away again. The man's eyes were clear, and they began to dart around. He blinked, looked down at his girl. His face crumpled.

"Darling…" He scooped up his daughter and kissed her. "It's been so long since I've seen you…" With tears running down his face, he carried her away.

Rapunzel watched them as they left, then turned to look up at Eugene. "Can you believe the good I've been doing? I've just...the past few days have been wonderful!"

"Hmmm." He smirked. "I can't believe the money you've been making. In fact, I have everything you made today right in my hands." He cupped them so she could see just how empty they were.

"Eugene," she rolled her eyes as the next person came up to her.

"I know, I know, I'm just messing with you. This is really great, and you know? I think most of these people are coming from off the island - there's a whole trail of them coming over the bridge."

"Wow." Rapunzel shook her head. "Well, I better get busy." She turned her attention to the young man standing in front of her, but she was suddenly distracted by distant shouts.

"Out of the way! Clear the way!" One of the city guards came running up, and behind him hurried three others - one of them was lying on a low wooden cart, which the other two were pushing, while the fourth led the way. He motioned them forward, bypassing the line of people. "We have an emergency, stand back!"

Rapunzel gasped as the cart was stopped in front of her. The guard lying on it clutched a torn cloth to his chest, which was stained with the dark crimson of blood.

"We were on patrol on the far shore," the leading guard panted, "and this thing jumped out of the bushes with an axe and just…"

"A thing?" From Eugene's tone, Rapunzel could tell that he was incredulous.

"It wasn't a man, I'll tell you that much." The guard kneeled down over his comrade as Rapunzel pressed her hair against the wound. "Come on Matthew, you'll be alright..."

Rapunzel began to sing, and as she did the wound glowed. The blood gleamed golden, the rays of light stitching the injury closed. When she finished, Matthew lay still for a while, only slowly getting up.

"Your highness…" he whispered, feeling at his chest. "I owe you a debt of gratitude."

"It's nothing at all, really." She smiled, yet deep inside she did feel very proud of what she could do, saving people. Their gratitude really made her feel important…

"What happened?!" The captain of the guard came riding up on a horse, with Maximus close behind. "Who was wounded?"

"Captain Randolf, sir." Matthew got to his feet, still marvelling at his returned health. "I had been attacked by an axeman outside the city, but the princess healed me already."

The captain looked back and forth between them, searching Matthew for any remaining trace of injury. Then he shook his head. "This is outrageous, sending city guards into the countryside on patrol." He turned and motioned for Maximus to follow him again. "Princess, I need to speak to you and your father again about getting a proper army built."

He offered his hand to give Rapunzel a ride, and Maximus begrudged Eugene transport. The princess was troubled though. "I still don't think it's a good idea. Corona hasn't had a standing army in so long…"

"We don't have a choice," Captain Randolf had his horse trot up to the castle. "Things are already rocky with Arendelle, and they used to be defense enough for us until - well, you know."

Rapunzel nodded. "Yeah…"

The trouble had started when she and Eugene, just after their wedding, had been invited to royal coronation of Elsa as queen of Arendelle - the royal line of Arendelle was related to Corona's, as cousins several times removed, and so attendance was expected. This blood alliance had been strained, though, when the coronation celebration went horribly wrong. The tale had traveled far and wide over the land, about how the queen had nearly frozen her kingdom over permanently - and Rapunzel and Eugene had been right in the middle of it all, lucky to have escaped with their lives. Rapunzel herself didn't severely begrudge Elsa, and Eugene afterwards was only put off enough to make several sarcastic remarks ("I honestly expected a much warmer reception. All we got was the cold shoulder"). Her father, though, had been outraged, and called the incident a betrayal of kinship. While hostilities had not escalated beyond words yet, the "yet" was still rattling in people's minds.

"If we had to actually march west," Randolf continued, "we can't very well do so with an army of city guards! We can't count on the Weseltonian cavalry to aid us either, they're only good in the open field, useless in a siege. Not to mention they'll turn on us the moment Arendelle bids a crown more than us." He shook his head. "And now with these brutes roaming around outside our walls - who knows, we could end up facing a horde of barbarians coming from the other side of the Dark Forest! We need training, proper weapons."

"There's still the Armada," Rapunzel reminded him. "Taking men off the ships wouldn't be a good idea..."

"Right, not very many," the captain thought to himself. "Although," he turned to look at her. "We may be fine with a smaller army."

"Really?"

"Think about it: If a man were to fall in battle, and you were there," he glanced at her hair, "you could have him back on his feet in no time."

Rapunzel's eye's grew wide. "No...no, I don't want to go to war, to use my hair for-"

"Not fighting, of course, I understand." Randolf assured her. "But think of what Corona could do, with even a small army that could heal from any wound, any battle. Why, Arendelle would not dare come against us!"

Rapunzel did not reply, and she and the captain exchanged no more words as they climbed up the hill to the castle. She played with the tips of her hair though, staring at it, then the ring on her hand that had restored its power.

* * *

Hiccup set the ring down in front of Gothi, who was sitting at her table. "Do you know anything about this?"

He and Astrid watched as she picked it up and looked it over, apparently mulling over their story. They had told her everything - where Hiccup had found it, and what Astrid had seen as she put it on. Now they awaited her judgment, the definitive explanation that would lay to rest all of their questions.

Gothi shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, great." Astrid sighed. "If Gothi doesn't know about this, no one does."

"Hmph," Hiccup feigned offense, "you know, I _do_ know some things that Gothi doesn't know."

Astrid picked up the ring and held it in front of him. "Does this have _anything_ to do with a dragon?"

"...no."

"Then Gothi's the authority on it, and she doesn't know about it, so no one does." Gothi crossed her arms in agreement.

"Well, I guess we just have to be careful." Hiccup reached for the ring, but Astrid still kept it. He became frustrated. "Can I _please_ have it back now?"

"Not until we know what it is, and what it can do!" She clenched it in her fist. "Who knows if it has some long-term effect?"

"Astrid," Hiccup began to grow impatient, "I will take that risk myself, if I want to."

"What about your responsibility as a chief? What if this thing makes you disappear permanently? You would give up the chiefdom to play with a magic ring?"

"It's _my_ ring. _I_ found it, and I can be responsible with it just as much as you can." He held out his hand gruffly. "Give it back!"

Gothi looked like she was about to come between them when the door knocked. Hiccup and Astrid turned, their argument set aside as Gobber peeked in.

"Hiccup?" he asked. "Ah, there you are. Some people jus' came into harbor, they're lookin' for you."

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah...yeah, I'll be right there." He looked up at Astrid as Gobber closed the door, and saw her face had turned stony. "Hey, I...I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. I'm just really getting attached to this thing, you know? I can't explain it..."

She looked down at her hand one last time. "Here, you're right, it's yours anyways." She handed over the ring, although it looked like she needed a great effort to do so. Hiccup kept it in his hand. "C'mon, let's see who needs to meet you now." Her tone let him know that all was forgiven.

"If it's Johann again with another story, so help me…" They both laughed.

Descending from Gothi's tower, it was only a short walk to where the path from the docks rose to the rest of the village. Therefore, Hiccup and Astrid very soon met their visitors.

"Ohhhhkay." Astrid and Hiccup both froze as they saw five men dressed in flowing black on horseback, advancing over the dirt and grass, their faces hidden in shadow.

The frontmost pointed to Hiccup. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, heir of Berk?"

"That would be me…" Two of the figures approached him and dismounted, while the other three split up and passed into the village. They seemed to be very interested in the shops, getting off their horses, and searching through tools and baskets…

"Chief Haddock," one of the two spoke to him. "We bring welcome from a great lord, from far across the sea, who wishes to offer his counsel and alliance to you and Berk. As a token of such, we come bearing a gift from him."

Hiccup nodded. "Okay, what's his name?"

"He does not want us to name him now," the faceless head spoke softly, yet clearly, "but he will reveal himself when he deems the time appropriate."

Hiccup glanced from the immediate speaker to his partner, then the other three looking through the village. He could have sworn he saw one of them raise his head to the wind and sniff, like he was hunting an animal.

Suddenly, an unintelligible whisper came into his head. "Ack," he squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing his eyes.

"What is that?!" The voice came suddenly, and Hiccup gasped. He realized that his ring still lay in his hand, and that a glint of gold had peeked through his fingers. "What do you hold?"

"Oh, it's a, um," he begrudged them a peek. All five of the hooded figures turned now to face him, and a faint menace begin to creep in on him.

"Chief Haddock," the figure reached into his cloak, "for the interest of both of our lands, we would like to offer a trade."

"Hold on," Astrid butted in, "you said you had a _gift,_ not a trade."

"Very insightful you are," the voice continued, chilling, "but think of our poor lord. He has drained his wealth to forge for you, and for others, these." Now he drew his hand from his cloak, and held out to Hiccup another ring. It was golden, shaped like two serpents with their tails intertwined. They arched around and met at the top, where they held onto either end of a brilliant plumbob ruby with their fangs.

"Great craft he put into these, for your own sake, and he emptied his vaults to find only the purest metals and finest gems. But now he sits in his halls, bare and forlorn, where no treasure sits any longer. All we ask is a barter for this, the humblest and plainest of all trinkets, hardly a trifle, and in return we shall bestow not only this," he held the dragon ring up again, "but a fruitful and mighty alliance that shall elevate Berk into a great and serene power."

His words at once grew desperate, and yet persuasive. Hiccup still clutched the plain band of gold, but slowly extended his arm.

"If you insist." He uncurled his fingers, revealing the ring in his palm.

Before the figure could snatch it up, a snowball pelted him in the dark void where his face should have been. He recoiled with a deathly scream which made Hiccup flinch.

"What in Thor's name-?" He whirled around, half expecting to see the twins, but there was no one behind him except Astrid, who was also looking for the perpetrator. It hardly occurred to him that no snow was available to form into a ball.

The soft crushing sound of snowballs came again, and the unearthly scream of the riders as they scattered. Hiccup covered his ears as he turned around again, growing ever more confused, to see a torrent of snowballs hailing down from every direction onto the riders. Then he jumped back - the balls had given way to bolts of frost, which spread sheets of ice wherever they hit the ground. The visitors leapt back onto their mounts and raced out of the village, into the forest.

Hiccup and Astrid stared after them, as did most of the Berkians. No one had any words…

"Where is it?!"

The voice came from behind the two of them, and they yelped and jumped. Standing there was a tall boy, dressed in blue and brown and wielding a staff. His skin was pale white, and he most certainly had not been standing there a moment ago.

"Where is it?" He repeated his question, looking to Hiccup and then Astrid. "Oh, don't tell me they took it…"

"You mean this?" Hiccup held the gold ring in his hand - in all the confusion, he had kept his grasp on it. The boy took his arm, staring at it, and it seemed he would collapse in relief.

"Okay, okay…" He looked around, snatched up the dragon ring which had fallen onto the dirt in all the commotion. "Is there a secret place where you can hole up, talk in secret?"

"There's my hut, but…" Hiccup stopped him. "Look, are you new here? Did you come with them, I've never seen you on the island before, I don't even know who you are, or what just happened, or-"

"The name's Jack Frost." This only created more confusion. "Just get inside, both of you," he motioned at Astrid with his staff. "And quickly. Who knows when they'll come back?


	5. A Darkness That Didn't Die

"Come on, come on." Jack motioned for the two of them to hurry into the hut, and with a quick glance back outside he shut the door. "I didn't get your names, by the way?"

"I'm Hiccup, and this is Astrid," he spoke as Jack tried to barricade the door shut with a chair from the table, "and, who are _you_ again, exactly?"

"Jack Frost." He went over to the windows, which were wide open and sunny.

"Real funny." His voice grew exasperated. "First off, that's not even a real name, and second of all, what are you even doing here -"

Jack waved his hand over the window. Within seconds it had frosted over, and the lacy fingers of the ice soon blocked out the sunlight altogether. Hiccup fell silent as Jack smirked at him.

"Funny to hear 'It's not a real name' coming from a boy named Hiccup."

Stunned silence answered him.

"Of course, I think you guys call me…" He snapped his fingers trying to remember, "Sometimes Uller? And sometimes Loki. Don't know why, I see nothing wrong with 'Jack Frost'."

"Wait wait," Astrid broke in. "You're the god of winter, and the god of mischief?"

"I wouldn't say 'god', but winter and mischief are my two specialties. And honestly, I prefer the term 'guardian'." Jack cocked his eye at them. "Which is actually what I'm trying to do right now. Where is the ring?"

Hiccup fumbled the golden ring out and set it on the table, while Jack pulled the dragon ring from his hoodie pocket. Jack could see the two of them staring at his strange attire, but he elected not to explain it to them at the moment.

"Where did you find this?" He pointed at the plain gold band.

"I...found it, in a tide pool, when I was flying with Toothless."

"Toothless?"

"My dragon." As if on cue, there was scratching at the door, and a deep-throated whine from the other side. Jack jumped and brandished his staff, but Hiccup put out his hand. "No no, that's him! It's okay." Jack watched as he moved the chair away and let Toothless inside.

"Night Fury, right?" Jack scoffed as the dragon came in. "I've had a fair share of grapples with them. How'd you ever get it tamed?"

"Long story," Astrid answered. Hiccup was too busy comforting the dragon while Jack watched. Seeing the boy softly soothe the Night Fury made his chest clench with worry. Did Hiccup even know? How could he?

"He gets upset if I'm gone for more than a minute." Hiccup laughed, but his smile fell when he glanced at Jack. "What's wrong?"

Jack shook his head. "Nothing, just thinking." He fingered the gold ring on the table. "Toothless?" The Night Fury looked up at his name. "Care to help me with a little experiment?"

Glancing around, Jack brought it over to the fireplace, setting it on the stone hearth.

"Can you make a gentle fire for me?" He pointed at the ring, and Toothless looked up, shocked.

"What, no!" Hiccup barged forward. "He'll melt it!"

"There are dozens of rings just like it." Jack cocked his eyebrow at him. "Aren't there?"

He didn't answer, but after a few seconds looked down and yielded. "Go ahead, Toothless."

The Night Fury bent down and produced a bright violet flame, which he focused over the ring. Everyone watched closely.

"Look, if it melts," Jack spoke, "I'll find you a new one. But if this is what I think it is, you don't want it at all."

He knew that he still wasn't making much sense at the moment, but as he stared at the flame, half of him hoped he wouldn't have to explain, and therefore get these two mixed up in it. On the other hand, he hoped that the search was over, and that he had found it…

"That's enough." The dragon stepped back as Jack bent close over the ring, then motioned at the two other. "Come here."

The stone in the hearth glowed a reddish orange, yet the ring still sat there intact; it hadn't even deformed.

Jack took a poker and tapped the ring away from the half-melted stone. "Here, pick it up. Trust me," he added as Hiccup gave him a bewildered look. "Look at it, tell me if you see anything new."

With trembling fingers Hiccup picked the ring up - but the scalding pain he had expected didn't come. In fact, it felt as cool as if it had merely been sitting on the table. He turned it over and over in his palm.

"I don't see anything new," he muttered. "It's the same as it - hold on, there's this…" He held it out for Jack to see. "Is that writing?"

Indeed, a glowing script had appeared along the outside of the band. The letters were long and curved, and shone with fire.

"It is…" Jack was breathless as he stared.

"I've never seen any Norse like that before." Hiccup glanced at Astrid, who shrugged.

"This is it," Jack whispered, and he could feel the other two looking at him again. "After all this time, it was here in the Archipelago...how many times did I fly right over it?!"

Astrid spoke now. "Okay, we've told you what you wanted to know, did what you wanted us to do. Now it's your turn. Start talking."

Jack stopped his celebration. For a moment he considered passing it off with some excuse, so that he didn't have to tell them everything. But he glanced at Hiccup, and sighed. "Fine. Sit down, this is going to be a long story. And at the end of it, I'm going to have to ask you something important."

Jack propped his staff against the tabletop, pulled out a chair, and seated himself, leaving a lattice of frost where he touched the surface. Hiccup and Astrid sat opposite him, leaving the door behind them. Toothless came around to the side and also sat, turning his head to speaker to speaker in turn.

"First thing you have to know," Jack started, "is that I'm very very old. I'm actually a couple thousand years, believe it or not. And everything I'm about to tell you, I saw for myself, firsthand."

"Now, thousands of years back, the world was very different. You have, what, a hundred or so people on the island here?" Two nods answered him. "I've seen cities where _millions_ of people lived. Incredible technology too - they had vehicles like...like carts, that you could ride in without being pushed or pulled by an animal." Jack struggled to phrase his memory in a way that would make sense to these two. "Massive boats, made of metal, that carried thousands of people without any sails. They could have lights in the nighttime brighter than any candle, and that's just the beginning!" He could feel the nostalgia running through him. "It was a very different world."

"What happened to it all?"

Jack took a moment, putting his memory in order before he spoke:

* * *

"North!" He called as he landed in the workshop, at the foot of the massive globe. "I saw the lights. North?"

"Over here!" Nicholas St. North came around the globe, waving for him. "We have visitor."

Coming around, Jack saw the other Guardians gathered - Sandy, Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. And in their midst stood a tall man, robed in light blue and white.

"Jack Overland Frost?" The visitor's eyes flashed as he spoke. "You are the last, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"Allow me to introduce myself." He took a sweeping bow. "You may call me Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, and I greet the Guardians of Childhood with great reverence, and with a proposition."

No one interrupted, so he continued.

"I am familiar with your labors, and what your aim is: to keep bright and happy all children of the world, and defend them from those who would wish to do them ill. But alas! Even now, what woes befall them? In lands of scarcity and violence, are the children there still not plagued with calamities? Does darkness still not close in upon them from every direction, despite your efforts?"

"Look," Bunnymund stepped forward. "We can't help it, it's a constant battle. We do what we can, but there's no way to get rid of this stuff forever."

"But there is a way. That's why I come to you now bearing great tidings." Annatar reached into his robes and pulled out a polished wooden box. "The solution, my friends, is not to approach the problems ourselves, but to empower the humans to find their own way."

Opening the box now, he revealed nine rings, laying on velvet.

"Great rings of power. I shall give them to the leaders of the world - presidents, prime ministers. With them, they shall gather such fantastic wealth, and their people shall no longer want for anything."

Jack stared at the jewelry, arranged in a circle within the box.

"The leaders themselves will have a new authority, and none will defy their commands - imagine the strife to be averted! In time they shall even become sorcerers-"

"Woah, uh uh." Bunny shook his head. "People and magic do not mix well."

"He's right," Toothiana floated forward. "The reason we always do our work in the nighttime is because adults aren't comfortable with magic. We need to stay on the down-low..."

"But don't you see?" Annatar interrupted. "That is why they are vulnerable. I humbly ask for your trust in this endeavor, and I pray I shall receive it."

The Guardians glanced at one another. Then North stepped forward. "Alright, now where do we come into all this?"

"Let me show you this art," Annatar hid the box again in his robes. "Allow me to teach you ringlore, and you may create as many as you would desire for yourselves. If you should choose, I will even oversee their forging personally. Imagine the feats you could accomplish with such strength, the good you could-"

"What's the catch?" Jack still felt skeptical, but Annatar shook his head.

"I merely love this world as you do, and I wish to see it brought to peace. Please, let me help you…."

* * *

"...and we believed him, and we ended up creating these." Now he held out his right hand, and let Hiccup and Astrid see. He bore an elegant ring of white gold, topped with several sapphires arranged in a design that appeared both floral and geometric. "You should have heard him, his voice calm and wise." Jack squeezed his eyes shut. "How could we have known it was a lie? Even the name he gave us was fake. Annatar was really known as the Abhorred - Sauron."

At the name, a dark whisper echoed through the room. Everyone paused, and Jack stared at the golden ring.

"Sauron," he continued, wrenching his eyes away, "corrupted by an ancient evil I don't even want to talk about. Now, at first it seemed he told the truth; the world, for a little while, was better than I've ever seen it, before or since. But it wasn't until it was too late that we realized there was one more ring that Sauron made…"

He pointed now at the golden band, which Hiccup, Astrid, and Toothless all gawked at now with wide eyes.

"Who was it for?" Hiccup whispered.

"Himself. And as he made it, he kept putting more and more of his strength in it, strength that I can't even imagine having, to make it able to overpower the others. When he put it on, he could control anyone who wore their rings."

"Oh my gods…" Hiccup looked at the dragon ring and made the connection easily enough.

"As soon as we realized what was going on, we took ours off, but the Nine kept theirs, too greedy to free themselves. And that's when we saw the whole truth: Sauron hadn't meant to help us, but to control us like puppets. Our rings were the strings, and this Ring was how he pulled them."

"What happened next is very complicated, but in short, he was not at all happy that the Guardians were out of his control; he had wanted us to strong-arm people for him, punish those who got out of line. Instead we began to lead a revolt against the Nine and his power. Fighting broke out, more and more violent all the time…" A look of horror appeared on his face as he recalled the terror in the past. "He took human beings, locked them underground, tortured them, and twisted them until they became...something else. We called them orcs, horrific brutes that enjoyed pain. Then he took lizards, put fire in their mouths, and unleashed them against us-"

"Dragons?" Hiccup glanced at Toothless. "Sauron...created dragons?"

Jack nodded. "Luckily for us, he didn't get a chance to perfect them - by that, I mean, corrupt them all the way. There's still some good in them, but in the end they will answer to the Ring."

Hiccup could hardly speak. "When I first found it...it actually wasn't even me, it was Toothless...and he seemed to just be entranced by it…"

"But what happened?" Astrid pressed on. "How did it end up here?"

"The war went on for centuries," Jack continued, "and you should have seen it - two whole continents to the west, completely sank into the water. The coastlines were torn to pieces, mountains were quarried or blasted away. But in the end, we managed to corner Sauron, and…"

He gulped as he began to select which parts of his memory to tell.

"I...I came at him, and I cut his fingers from his hand, where the Ring was. He vanished, the orcs and dragons scattered, and the Nine seemed to disappear."

He heard them both breathe a sigh of relief. "Well, at least there's that good news…" Hiccup muttered.

"Good news?"

"He's gone...right?"

Jack looked down at the Ring. "He lost his body. But his spirit is still alive, bound to this Ring, as well as the hatred, the lies, the power that he held inside of him. I can't emphasize this enough - it's not just a trinket, it holds Sauron's will and spirit. He's torn now, but if he finds it, he can rebuild into something even worse than before. That's why you can't give it to him or the Nine."

Hiccup stammered, "I-I would never hand it over-"

"You nearly did just now, right into their hands."

"Those...those were the-"

"The nine leaders?" Jack nodded. "That's what their rings turned them into. Bit by bit, they faded into insanity and evil, and that's all that's left of them. Sauron calls them the Nazgûl, the Ringwraiths. They reappeared a few hundred years ago, but they haven't been so organized…" He stood and went back to the window, waving his hand to dissipate the ice and peer out.

"I have another question:" Hiccup spoke. "How did this thing find its way to Berk?"

Jack squeezed his eyes shut, feeling a stab of pain in his heart. He carefully phrased his answer. "When the Guardians and I got the Ring, we...we had an encounter with some orcs. Long story short, it fell into a river. That's the last I heard of it, how it got here I don't know."

His answer seemed to satisfy Hiccup, much to Jack's relief, but now Astrid went to the heart of the matter. "What do we do with the Ring now?"

"Take it from here." Jack did not hesitate in his answer. "They know it's here, and they'll come back for it. And this is where I need to ask something from you. We need to get it off the island - if I lead the way, can you follow me on your dragon?"

"...we?"

"Hold on," Astrid stood up. "In case you didn't know, he's the CHIEF of the village. He can't just go flying off, like he used to." She glared pointedly at him with these last words.

"Look, Mom can take care of things while I'm gone. She's more than capable. That is, if I'm even going to be gone." He glared at Jack. "How do I know this isn't all a story? I don't know how much of this is true. And even if it _is_ all true, I mean, where are we going anyways? And what _are_ we going to do with the Ring? For all I know, you could want it for yourself!"

Jack's eyes flickered down at this last charge, but otherwise waited quietly for him to finish. "I know I'm asking you to trust my word without proving anything. But keep this in mind - if I just wanted the Ring, I could have frozen your feet to the floor half an hour ago and taken it."

Hiccup seemed to be trying to refute this point, but he couldn't find a good argument. His eyes softened. "Alright, I'll believe you, but I still don't see why you need me. Why don't you just take the Ring yourself and get rid of it?"

He held it out, but Jack sprung back.

"No!" His shout jolted everyone. "No, I won't...I can't take it, I'm sorry. Plus, if you got one of these…" he picked the dragon ring up, "you have an even more important role in all of this."

Hiccup shook his head - Jack realized the day had been filled with too many revelations, and it was starting to drag on him. "What do you mean?"

"I can't tell you that right now," Jack said. "But I'm certain that...you're someone we've been waiting and looking for." He looked up to see a surprised expression on Hiccup's face. "Are you in?"

A moment of silence as he looked every which way. Finally his jaw set in determination.

"I'm in."

* * *

Within a few hours, Hiccup was ready to go. He tied his baskets of supplies on either side of Toothless' saddle, just tightening the ropes as Jack approached him.

"You said it's four days east?" Hiccup double-checked his food stores.

"For you, if you take a day and a half to get from Dragon's Edge to here." Jack smirked. "For me though, it's a hop, skip and a jump."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Well, we can't all be gods - guardians - spirits." He closed the basket lids and began to tie them closed. "We'll have to make sure to stop, I haven't been on any flights this long before." Toothless snorted in offense. "No, I'm sure you can do it bud! We just don't want to push ourselves too much…"

"You got everything?" Jack looked over Hiccup's stuff.

"Food, emergency patching kit…" Hiccup named off everything.

"And you have _it?"_

Hiccup laid his hand over his chest - he had slid the Ring into the pocket there for safekeeping, and he could feel it pressing against him. He nodded.

"And he also has me!" Both boys turned around to see Astrid coming towards them, with Stormfly the Deadly Nadder right behind her.

"Look," Jack approached her, "I don't know how long this will take, or what will happen. I don't want you getting mixed up in this if you don't have to."

"You may not want it," Astrid cocked her eye at him, "but you don't have a choice. If I don't tag along with my boyfriend here, he's gonna get himself killed."

Jack turned to Hiccup for help, but he only shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "If she wants to come, I can't tell her 'no'. And, uh, I'd recommend you don't either."

Jack sighed. "The famous stubbornness of the Vikings." He looked over to the forest one more time, then the sun setting across the ocean. "Are you ready to go?"

"Told my mom that she needs to cover as chief, Gobber's gonna get Snotlout to cover the shop-"

"How much did you tell them?"

"Just that I'm going away; nothing about the Ring."

"Okay, if that's everything-"

"Oh. My. Thor." Jack turned again to find another boy, this one with a horned helmet and long blond hair. A girl who must have been his twin sister stood nearby. "Is it...can it be?"

He chuckled. "Well, it's not the Tooth Fairy. Jack Fro-"

"Loki the Trickster God, really here?!" The twins looked like they were about to collapse from the excitement, and Jack glared at Hiccup.

"Tuffnut and Ruffnut, they started asking me more questions. And, I might have let slip who I was going with…"

"Oh please, Lord of Gags and Pranks!" Tuffnut shouted. "Show us your mighty tricksy power!"

Jack had to close his eyes - he half-felt like laughing, and half-felt like simply vanishing away from this embarrassment. Finally he glanced over, jerked his staff, and at once Hiccup slipped on a sheet of ice and fell on his rear.

"Did you see that?!" The twins hugged each other in awe while Hiccup dragged himself back to his feet. He caught sight of Jack's smirk, Astrid's stifled giggle, and simply rolled his eyes again.

"This is going to be a fun trip."

Soon afterwards, he and Astrid flew east on their dragons, with Jack flying ahead to show the way.

* * *

Later that evening, as the sky dimmed and turned to black, Valka finally returned home from the dragon stables. She had had a long day tending to various injuries the dragons had gotten - including a Hobblegrunt that had lost a tooth in a territorial dispute with a Gronckle - and now she looked forward to a long day of chiefing.

She was just settling in with Cloudjumper, a fire spreading its cheery warmth from the hearth, when she heard knocking at the door. With a sigh, she stood and opened it.

"Gothi?" Valka stared as the little old woman came in, looking distraught. "Gothi, what is it?"

She was carrying a book in her arms that must have weighed as much as she did, and now she dropped it on the table before climbing into a chair to see better. Gothi motioned frantically for a charcoal pencil; once Valka had given her one, she began scribbling furiously in the covers of the book. Valka read her question.

"Oh, Hiccup left. He'll be gone for a while, I believe."

With a renewed fervor, Gothi wrote again.

"What? What did you find about his ring?"

Gothi flipped through the pages, and finally jabbed her finger at a particular spot. Valka read them aloud.

"Is...you think that's Hiccup's ring?" A nod. "Is that how it got onto Berk?" Another nod. "Should we go after him, do you think? I can go on Cloudjumper, and-"

A distant, inhuman scream silenced her. Valka stared out the window, stepped closer to see. Through the darkness she could see little. It seemed to press against the window, shrouding the village. The shrill cry came again, closer now. It struck at her chest this time, leaving an unpleasant chill of foreboding. Even Cloudjumper seemed to recoil a bit.

"Gothi…" Valka whispered. "Get under the table. Cloudjumper, hide yourself." The Stormcutter growled at this suggestion. "Do what I said, get out of here!"

She took a sword lying against the wall and barred the door shut, then crawled under the table with Gothi, wrapping her arms around her. "Stay quiet now, no matter what happens." The sense of fear grew stronger, and from Gothi's shivering Valka realized she wasn't alone.

A shuddering boom rattled the door. A high, hateful voice: "Chief Haddock, we demand your audience at once!"

Valka kept her grip on Gothi, and watched the door.

There was the sound of wood splintering, the sword clattering to the ground. The fireplace extinguished as the black shapes loomed into the house, the moonlight peering through the windows as the cloaked figures pressed inside. Valka squeezed her eyes shut as a blind terror, one that she had rarely felt before, engulfed her.

The wraiths swept upstairs to Hiccup's room. The next morning, Valka found it ransacked, with long gashes in the bedsheets where knives had slashed them. Papers from the desk were all over the floor, and the furniture overturned. Gobber's shop was the same, with metal and tools strewn out into the streets, all of Hiccup's drawings and papers shredded and littering the streets. And everyone talked about the riders - the black shadows that had raced through Berk, running down Vikings in their haste, screaming for Chief Haddock. Even the dragons seemed jittery from the night before, and they and humans alike feared the next sundown.

But the five wraiths had already done their work, and by the end of the day were no longer on the island.


	6. DunBroch's Shadow

Merida nocked her arrow and raised her bow. She aimed down the shaft, took a breath to calm her nerves…

She let it fly.

It sped through the air and embedded itself in the target's bullseye, just a thumb's width from dead center.

She grinned to see her aim still true, and she reached for another arrow from her quiver. The sky overhead was filled with large whitish-grey clouds which clustered around each other, and a chill wind blew from the sea as Merida kept up her practice. Except for a single rogue shot that landed just outside the bullseye, she hit in the center every time.

She was just yanking her arrows out of the target, readying for a third round, when she spotted Fergus coming towards her.

"Hi Dad!" She called as cheerfully as she could. "Just practicing my archery and-" She stopped and saw his eyes full of fear. "Dad, what's wrong?"

"The harvest..." he whispered. He didn't meet her gaze, but instead looked into the forest, entranced. "The barley didn't come in."

Merida felt a weight settle in her stomach and hang there. Barley was one of their most important crops. If it had failed…

"Nobody knows why," he continued. "All they say is that the soil's bad. As if it would just go and spoil on us like that!" His flare of anger quickly relapsed back into melancholy.

"Look, Dad, we might be a little short on bread and ale this next year, but there's still the sheep. Mutton, haggis...we can make do, right?"

Before her father could respond, someone came running towards them. "King Fergus! King Fergus! The pastures, hurry!"

 _Oh, why did I open my big mouth?_ Merida cursed herself as she hurried along with them, out of the castle grounds and into the rolling forest. After a while the trees gave way to a large clear area, fenced with crude wooden paddocks. There were hundreds of sheep in the field, joined by several people. The shepherd was kneeling on the ground, cradling one of the animals in his arms; Fergus and Merida jumped over the fence to see what was going on.

"Drink it, you fool!" The shepherd had a wet rag in his hand, and a bucket of water beside him. He was trying to squeeze water into the sheep's mouth, but it didn't respond to his demands. In fact it seemed hardly coherent at all, and on the verge of death.

The shepherd hung his head in defeat finally. He let go of the animal, and it rolled off of his lap.

"Colin, Ranulf, thank you." The two men beside him, Colin being the one who had summoned Fergus and Merida, nodded sadly and moved away.

"Lindsay," Fergus spoke to the shepherd, "what is this?"

Lindsay shook his head sadly as he stood up. "I don't know. The flock's been feelin' down for a while not as lively as I remember, but all of a sudden I woke up today and found seventeen of them dead! I've lost fifteen more today…" He gestured down at the sheep he had been cradling, which had stopped breathing.

Merida couldn't speak. A sickness in the flock? Who knew which sheep it had spread to? Who knew how many it would kill? Looking around more closely, though, she realized that even the sheep that survived would be little help. Instead of growing fat, they had remained thin and lanky - each would only have precious little meat to offer.

"It's been a bad year," Lindsay shook his head sadly. "But we still have the barley, we can fall back on that."

With a great shout, Fergus sank to his knees and and stared into the sky. Both Merida and Lindsay were shocked by his behavior.

"No barley!" He cried "No sheep! We are doomed when the winter comes!"

"Dad, Dad!" Merida tried and failed to drag him to his feet. "We go to the other clans, I'm sure we can all pull together enough-"

"It is impossible." He had calmed down now, but his despondency was stronger than ever. "I have lead us into ruin, how shall we survive? It is hopeless!"

"Dad!" Merida was frustrated now, especially at seeing the effect on Lindsay. He was growing frightened at seeing the king like this. "Dad, you have NOT lead DunBroch into ruin, but you will if you keep this up!" Her words had no effect, though. With a growl she tried again to lift him up. "You have a responsibility! You can't just give up when food runs scarce, you will find a way!"

But it was all in vain. He just began sobbing, muttering about the end of the alliance and the clans.

"Fine! Sit here and blubber! _I_ will be waiting at the castle when you're ready to lead!" With that she stormed off into the forest.

As she walked, however, she began to feel guilty about treating her father like that. He was just having a hard time...but at the same time, she felt justified to a degree. He was still king, and his grief didn't entitle him to sit back and watch DunBroch collapse. Her head was storming back and forth, and she felt into her pockets.

She stopped.

Slowly, Merida pulled out the silver ring that the black riders had given her. She had never put it on yet, she had been saving it for a more formal occasion. But now, with these new weights crushing on her, she felt she needed a reminder that she was considered important and notable enough to even be recognized. She was Merida, she had found a way to save her father from Mor'Du, and her mother from the curse that had created Mor'Du. She would find a way, even if Fergus wouldn't.

She slipped on the ring.

She yelped in shock as the world misted over.

Merida could still see the trail, the trees around her, but now it felt like she was viewing them through a pane of dirty glass. A seeping blackness had cast itself over every tree, clinging to the grass and flowers and trunks, and it flowed through the air like a muddy river.

Merida turned round and round, looking at everything. A hint of green and white sometimes peeped out of the forest, but it seemed that the blackness quickly flowed in and clouded it over.

Then a speck of blue, that did not fade.

It seemed to chase the blackness away, forming a small clear bubble around itself. It beckoned to Merida...a will o' the wisp.

She hadn't seen them for such a long time, not since the trouble with the cursed pastry. Awestruck, she came towards it. Just as she expected, as she reached out to touch it, it vanished, then reappeared a ways away.

Merida ran after them.

* * *

Jack led Hiccup and Astrid east, past Outcast Island and right off the edge of Hiccup's map. After four days, the islands gave way, and a long shoreline appeared, stretching from north to south.

"That's the mainland," Jack shouted as they flew through the air. "We're nearly there!"

"At the Bunnyman's place?" Hiccup called.

"Bunnymund," Jack corrected. "And yeah, he'll want to know about this! We get the rest of the Guardians together, and we'll figure out what to do."

Soon they traded the unending ocean for unending hills and forests, until an hour after hitting the mainland Jack gestured for them to land.

"You guys stay here," he said as they dismounted from their dragons. "Bunny hasn't been too talkative lately, and the last thing I want is to bring two people uninvited into his Warren - even if it is important. You guys okay to wait here just a bit until I come get you?"

Both nodded.

"Alright, be careful. Don't wander too much - there's a kingdom nearby, and I don't know how keen they'll be on unexpected visitors. Keep an eye out, and Astrid," he gestured to Hiccup with his staff. "Watch him, don't let him get any funny ideas with the Ring."

"I'll keep him out of trouble, that's my job anyways." She gave a gentle punch on the shoulder.

"I'm serious." Jack gave a pointed look to both of them. "Be careful, both of you." With that, he rose into the air and soared towards the Warren. By now it was afternoon, and the light was just dying in the middle of the grass valley when he landed.

"Bunny!" He called.

Once again, no answer.

"Come on, Bunnymund. This is important, come out!" A sliver of worry began to grow in his mind. He raced down one of the tunnels, shouting. "E. Aster Bunnymund, this is kind of a big deal! As in, 'end of the world' big?" Still no one.

He came back out into the middle of the Warren. The sunlight was receding back up the walls now, leaving the floor in shade.

"Bunny!"

"Hello Jack."

He whirled around. Bunnymund was slouching there, his front paws together. He seemed worried…

"Bunny, we've got big news! I know Easter's coming up soon, but we've got everyone together. The Ring, Sauron's Ring...I found it! It was on Berk the whole time! We gotta get the Guardians together and-"

"No Jack, Jack," Bunnymund stopped him. "I can't."

Jack paused. He scanned the furry face, looking for some sign this was a joke. "What do you mean 'you can't'?! We need to assemble everyone now, didn't you hear me? We found the Ring!"

"So what?" He looked away. "It would have been better unfound, what good can it do us?"

"What good to find Sauron's one weakness?"

"And his one strength! Jack, it's not worth bothering about, it won't do any good…"

"Listen to yourself, Bunny! We can figure out what to do, we can bring an end to Sauron! If we get him while he's down-"

"While he's down?!" Bunny interrupted again. "You don't know Jack, he's already been back! And we've been too blind to see. There's no way we can beat him, there is no hope!"

"What are you talking-" Jack stopped, and a horror set in as he realized what he had just heard. "What did you just say?"

Bunnymund croaked it out again. "There is no hope…he's too strong, he's already moving. We have no chance."

"But your center...how can you say such a thing?"

"Because he's seen the truth, Jack."

This was another voice, behind Jack. He froze. That voice had not reached his ears for millennia. He turned around, scowling.

"Pitch Black."

"The one and only." Sure enough, he was standing there, his hands pressed together, staring smugly down his nose at Bunnymund. "Tell him, Rabbit: what have I shown you?"

"Terrible...horrible things Jack." Bunnymund clutched his shoulders, his eyes wide. "Creatures that shouldn't exist...armies, far bigger than what we've seen before...and the Four! The Four are here!"

"Ah yes, the big man's got quite a party planned Jack!" Pitch laughed as he pushed Bunnymund aside. "And guess what? You're invited!"

"I'm not coming to any party you're the host of," Jack countered.

"Oh, I'm not the host," Pitch chuckled. "Honored guest, maybe…I mean, what am I supposed to say? After getting dragged underground by a pack of Nightmares and tortured for decades, who am I to refuse the one that got my hidey-hole torn open again?"

Jack glared at him. "How long have you been back up here?"

"Oh, since the War! You should have seen me - just the faintest shadow, hiding under a leaf or the belly of a beast! It took me centuries to get my body back, but even then I was almost powerless. But when I heard that a certain someone was back in Mordor…" he laughed again. "I guess you could say I have a vested interest in the rule of anyone named 'the Dark Lord'."

Jack shook his head. On the list of things he wanted to deal with right now, the Boogeyman was very near the bottom. He pointed at Bunnymund. "What did you do to him?"

"Oh, this was my idea! My new way of getting back at the Guardians. See, being stuck for a few thousand years lets you think over what you've done wrong...and I realized that I was too busy outright fighting you, and not getting you where it matters." He pressed a grey finger to Bunnymund's chest. "Here," he hissed.

Jack saw a chill run through Bunnymund, but he otherwise did not react.

"I've been working for ages Jack, chipping away at his core! Showing him the awful but honest truth: there is no hope for you all. Look at me! You thought I was gone, but now the darkness is back and stronger than ever! And slowly, ever so slowly, so that nobody even noticed, I turned his hope into despair." He grinned. "Have you felt it Jack? In the forest? Can you feel it now? Even now the land has given up hope, and the nearby clans have noticed...their harvest just came in a little short this year."

"DunBroch?" Jack knew the kingdom well.

"Ohh, but it won't be called that for long. Not when I'm ready to act! It's time Jack, to finish what I started. I have my shadow here, and Mordor has its own. Soon we will merge, and it will fall over all the Earth!"

Without another word, Jack lunged with his staff, and Pitch sidestepped him.

"Now don't be rude!" His face twisted into a scowl. "You're going to make me upset…"

Jack took several more swipes, and with the Boogeyman at a far distance he fired a bolt of frost. With a swipe of dark sand, Pitch knocked it aside.

"You think that's all I've got?" Jack leapt into the air and raced around Pitch. "I've learned a thing or two since we last met!"

"Don't play around with me!" Pitch shouted "And don't think I haven't done some learning of my own. After all, I've found a superb teacher…"

With a flick of his hands, Pitch produced a pair of whips that lashed toward Jack. One missed; the other wrapped around his left wrist.

"Aah!" He quickly wrenched his hand away, but stared at it. It felt like it was burning, and his pale skin had gone red. The momentary distraction kept him from dodging the whip that seized around his ankle and pulled him towards the ground.

With a furious swipe, he cut the tie from his foot and raised into the air again, but now his foot too began to burn. Jack tried to fire more frost at Pitch, but in vain - his shielding was too swift. He had to bring out the bigger guns.

"So that's what you spent all these years perfecting?" Pitch laughed up at him.

"No, this is!" Jack twisted his body and with a shout hurled a burst at the ground. Pitch jumped out of the way just in time, as a huge spiny chunk of ice blossomed where it landed, big enough to ensnare four men. Jack realized Pitch wasn't laughing anymore.

"You want to play with the big dogs? Fine!" Pitch whirled his arms, and a swarm of black flew from his hands. Jack tried to swat the tiny shadows away, but they stung, bit, scratched at every bit of him they could find.

Suddenly he felt the whips again, both of them, very tight around his middle. Before he could act he was slammed into the ground, then the far wall of the Warren, then the other. Now he lay facing up on the ground, his waist burning. His energy was fading, and the burning spreading…

"I told you, and the rabbit told you: there is no hope for the world you protect!" Pitch now stood over him, hands on his hips, triumphant. "But don't worry, you're still going to be at the party. In fact, you're going to be V.I.P. Let me show you to your room…"

And now Jack was falling down a long hole, his staff tumbling after him. Pitch was disappearing up into the shadows, all was black. He yelled, screamed…

Then he hit the stone and fell silent.


	7. First Encounter

Jack tried furiously to shake the bars of his cell, but they refused to move. The cold metal drove into the top and bottom of the small cavern - just freshly set, but still too strong.

"Bunny!" He yelled in his frustration. "Why didn't you talk to us? Why didn't you tell us what you saw?!"

Bunnymund said nothing, but Jack could hear him shift around in the cell beside his. With a growl, Jack let go of the bars and pounded them with his fist. He immediately regretted this action when his hand exploded in pain. He scowled as he paced to the other side of the room, peeking out of a small hole that was only just large enough for his eye.

The Warren was being torn apart outside. Shrubs and trees were uprooted, stones were dislodged and moved, statues were felled and shattered. At first, Jack thought that men were undertaking the work, but their movements seemed too jerky and animal-like to be human. Then the bonfires started, and he saw.

"Orcs…"

Their grisly faces leapt out against the fire, and they screamed as they had to walk close to the light to throw their fuel inside. Inch by inch the Warren was stripped bare and ruined. The only thing they could not destroy were the stone egg golems, which rolled uselessly on their sides as the goblins tried to cut them with their swords, to no avail.

"Leave them!" Pitch's sharp voice cut them off. "They can't do anything now." He looked around, then pointed at the ground. "The forges are down here, we need to expand them upwards. Get digging! We'll put the breeding grounds over there, and the woodshop over there." Jack strained to look where he was pointing, but it was difficult to see. "That's all we need right now. Oh, and some gates, silly me, almost forgot! And also," he shouted, stopping the goblins that had rushed off to begin their tasks, "I am _not_ sleeping in a hole in the ground. I want a proper place built for me to live, right up...there!" He pointed to the top of a mountain that towered over the rest of the Warren. "Now, get to it, chop chop!"

The orcs leapt to action, growling and cursing at each other. Pitch clasped his hands together, watching them. Then he turned and looked straight at the peephole.

"Enjoying the view, Jack?"

Jack recoiled away, squeezing his eyes shut as a mixture of hatred and fear coiled in his stomach. He heard Pitch laughing, and the hatred grew stronger. He set his teeth, willed himself to wait until the count of ten, then he peeked again.

Pitch had moved away now. He was on the other side of the Warren, and had conjured a black whip in his hands, using it to drive the goblins on.

"Alright, perfect…" Jack knelt by the hole and cupped his hand. He whispered into his fingers, very softly. Then he twirled them around, still muttering under his breath, and conjured a snowflake. With a poke he sent it through the hole, where it whirled about and disappeared into the sky.

He repeated the process again, and sent the second snowflake on its way. Then he turned around, sighing as he leaned against the stone of the cell wall. Jack hoped it had been enough, but he still felt uneasy. Bunny's words haunted him:

" _..._ _the Four! The Four are here!"_

There had been so many false alarms over the centuries that Jack didn't take it fully to heart. But with the Ring found, and Pitch showing up like this...it might actually be real this time.

"Ygggh…" Jack clenched his stomach, feeling he was about to be sick.

If the Four had indeed emerged, and if his guess was correct...he might have left the Ring in the worst possible hands.

He hoped his snowflakes traveled fast enough.

* * *

Hiccup and Astrid hadn't bothered to make camp, since Jack had promised a swift return. As the sun began to sink and the woods to darken, however, they had hastened to construct a crude fire. Now they sat on a pair of stones that they had rolled over, Astrid looking around expectantly at the trees.

"You know what, though?" Astrid crossed her arms. "I wouldn't be surprised if he just abandoned us."

Hiccup didn't answer, instead only looking down.

"It would be just like a trickster god to lure us all the way from home and leave us here, don't you think so?"

A distant nod. He still didn't look up. Astrid peered over at his hands.

"Will you stop petting that thing?!"

Hiccup finally jerked up, jumping at the shout. Indeed, he had been caressing the Ring in his hand.

"Gods, can you talk to me?" She jumped to her feet. "You and I are ALONE out here, and all you want to do is ogle over that thing! Can't we...chart out your map, or talk? Heck, even if you don't want to talk, at least cuddle with me instead of that!"

Hiccup stared up at her, then back at the Ring. With a deep sigh and trembling fingers, he closed his fist around it and shoved it back in his pocket before standing up. "I...I'm sorry, Astrid. I don't know why, I just-"

"Shh!" Astrid was staring at the forest again.

"Oh, really? You were just yelling at me about how I was ignoring you, and now you-"

"Sh!" Astrid bent down and slowly grasped her axe from where it leaned against her seat, never turning her gaze from the forest. She heard Stormfly next to her, flexing the spines on her tail. "You saw it too, girl? Something out there, Hiccup, some kind of bluish glow. You see anything?"

No answer. Turning around again, she saw Hiccup had his back to her. He was fiddling in his pocket. With a scowl, Astrid turned to Toothless. She pointed first to him, then Hiccup, and then pantomimed a slap.

Sure enough, the Night Fury whacked Hiccup over the head with his tail.

"Ow! Okay, okay!" He caught Astrid's furious gaze and came over beside her, drawing out Inferno and extending the blade so that the flames lit.

All four of them looked out into the darkness, but saw nothing. They circled around the fire, but nothing stood out to them.

"That's funny…" Astrid began to lower her axe. "I could have sworn I saw something out-"

"Shh!" Now it was Hiccup's turn to be on the alert. "You did! Over here!" He motioned for her to run. "I heard branches snap."

They stared through the trees, Astrid with her axe and Hiccup with his sword. The waiting grew unbearable.

"Was it just a-"

An arrow flew out and hit Astrid's axe, cutting her off. She yelled in shock as it flew out of her hand.

Hiccup jumped from the surprise. In that split second, another arrow struck his weapon and caused it also to fly from his hand. The dragons became incensed; Toothless fired several blasts into the forest, while Stormfly burned away all of the brush before her.

A long path of cinders remained where the two had attacked. Hiccup and Astrid stared, looking for any sign of their assailant.

"I…" Hiccup chuckled weakly, "I think you might have gotten them, bud."

Toothless nudged his head against Hiccup's side, and wrapped his tail around the boy. He still growled, looking around in suspicion.

"Really, I think you got-"

"Anyone make a move and you die."

The voice came from their side. Toothless and Stormfly whirled around to face who was addressing them: a girl wearing a long dark blue dress, with red curls that sprouted and sprang from her head. She wielded a bow, and she had two arrows nocked, aiming right at them.

"Whoa, easy!" Hiccup spoke both to the newcomer and to the dragons, who screamed their dislike. "Here, easy bud, easy, she's alright." _I hope_ , he added in his mind. Looking over, he saw Astrid scowling at the girl, casting furtive glances to her axe lying on the ground. Hoping to ease the situation, he spoke. "Here, uh...hi there! I guess, er...I hope we weren't trespassing? We're just trying to go through the area."

The girl drew closer, not easing her aim. She constantly shifted so that they each had turns being targets. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Okay, well, I already told you the second thing: we don't really WANT anything, we're waiting for a friend to get back. And, uh, I'm Hiccup, this is Astrid, Toothless, and Stormfly. What's your name?"

The girl ignored his question, but she glanced at the dragons as he named them, and began to lower her bow. "They're yours?"

"Yeah! Toothless the Night Fury," he gave him a rubdown on his head, which despite the situation still made the dragon chuckle his pleasure. "And that's Stormfly the Deadly Nadder. And we," he pulled Astrid close, trying to appear friendly, "are a pair of the best dragon riders in the Barbaric Archipelago."

"Barbaric-" She raised her bow again. "You're Vikings!"

"Yeah, yeah, we're Vikings-"

"Where are the rest of you?!"

"Errrr…" Hiccup glanced at Astrid and back. "It's only the two of us, and our dragons."

"Scouting us out, then?" The girl scowled as she drew closer, the tip of her arrow only inches away from Hiccup's nose. "Go and tell your Berserkers, or whatever tribe you are, that DunBroch has enough problems without an invasion of Vikings to deal with."

"What? No!" Hiccup chuckled weakly. "No, we're not attacking or anything! We're waiting for a friend, we'll be gone any minute now, I promise!"

The girl turned her glare to Astrid. "Do you have anything to say?"

Astrid threw back a cold hard stare. "He's telling the truth. And we're not Berserkers, we're Hairy Hooligans - we've been anything but friendly with Berserkers the past few years."

There was a long while of silence. The girl seemed to be calculating something in her head.

Astrid spoke up, "Since we told you our names, don't you think we should hear yours?"

She blew air through her nose. "It's Merida. Merida of DunBroch." Finally she slackened the tension in her bow, letting its aim fall. "I hope you're telling the truth, for your own sakes. But if you're an enemy of the Berserkers...we might find a way to get along."

Now feeling free to move around, Hiccup gave another nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head - his nape was wet with sweat. He looked around at the dragons, which were still grumbling about their new acquaintance. Astrid also seemed on edge.

"Here, if you want to make sure, you could stay-" out of the corner of his eye, he saw several nasty glares sent in his direction, "-and you can see for yourself that we're telling the truth. As soon as our friend gets back, we'll leave, and you can go back home."

Merida nodded, sitting herself on a rock. "Who is this friend anyways?"

Before he could answer, Astrid pointed into the sky. "Hiccup, look!"

A snowflake, glittering with its own light, came twirling down between the branches of the trees. It cast a feeble light over leaves and twigs as it snaked its way to the ground. Finally it fluttered into the middle of the group and burst, leaving ice crystals suspended in the air. They slowly spun around as a voice spoke to them.

"Hiccup! Astrid!" They recognized Jack's voice, echoing like he was far away. "Things are worse than I thought: Bunny can't help us, and the forest is not safe. I need you to ride north, past the river, to Arendelle. Wait there and someone will find you. Hurry! The Black Riders will be hot on your trail, and remember: don't put the Ring on! Whatever you do, do NOT put it on!"

With that, the ice drifted, then fell to the ground as it melted into water.

Merida stared where the snowflake had burst. "That...you saw and heard it too, right?"

Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other, then immediately stood and began to leave.

"Hey, hey!" Merida ran around them, determined to get an answer. "What was that?"

" _That_ was our friend," Astrid nodded, "and he's in trouble. Do you know where Arendelle is?"

"No, but what was that whole thing about? What does he want a rabbit for, and what ring, and…" She paused. "The Black Riders, dressed in long flowing robes?"

"Yeah." Hiccup also stopped in his tracks. "Have you seen them?"

"I met them!" Now she had both of their attention. "They came to the castle at DunBroch, and gave me a gift. They were from...I don't think they said…"

Hiccup came up to her, making her step back a bit. "What did they give you?"

"Nothing much! Just a wee little ring, that's all!"

Hiccup shivered. "Who are you? I mean, what do you do?"

"I'm the heir to the throne," she said proudly. "I'm going to be the next queen."

" _Frumgru…"_

Whispers spoke in Hiccup's mind, and he looked down at his hand. Without thinking, it had strayed to his pocket.

The Ring lay in his palm, feeling heavy. Now Merida saw it. "Oh, did they give you one too? It's...it's very nice."

" _Kulkodargoth…"_ It echoed in Hiccup's mind. " _Kulkodargoth…"_

Hiccup only returned to his senses when a screech tore the night. Everyone looked up - it had been close

"We have to go, now!" Astrid shouted. Hiccup shoved the Ring back in his pocket and leapt on top of Toothless.

"Hold on!" Merida shouted up at him. "I still don't know what's going on!"

"Okay, I'll give you the short version:" Hiccup leaned towards her. "An evil overlord is trying to destroy the world. We have a way to stop him, but it's evil too, and from what Jack said to us, this forest is probably also evil."

"You know what's happening to the forest?" Merida felt a rush of excitement.

Hiccup paused before he answered. "I...think."

"Then I'm coming with you!" She made to clamber onto Toothless, to the dragon's dissent.

"Whoa, whoa!" Hiccup twisted around to watch her. "I-I don't think we need anyone to-"

"My kingdom is dying." She sat behind Hiccup, refusing to budge. "There's something in the forest, I could see it when I put my ring on. And if you know anything about it, I want to know too."

Hiccup looked at her determined face, knowing that it would be a long time to argue her back off of Toothless. Another screaming cry, this time closer, told him he didn't have that time.

"Fine. Toothless, she's coming with us." He patted the top of the Night Fury's head as the dragon snorted.

"Are you sure, Hiccup?" Astrid called from Stormfly.

"I just want to get out of here before anyone else shows up. Come on, bud!"

Merida gave a small scream as Toothless lifted into the air. She snapped her arms around Hiccup and held on as they left the ground behind. She looked around at the trees, disappearing to reveal a starry night sky; she felt a cool wind in her hair. Then she looked down at where they had taken off from.

In the dying light of the fire, a dark shadow circled around where they had just been. It gave a horrible chilling cry, and another answered far in the distance.

The five of them flew north over the treetops.


	8. Flight on the Road

Merida clung to Hiccup's middle to keep from falling off; she was still very cautious with this whole situation. Riding on a dragon? With a Viking? She would never have taken that risk, except that they had an idea of what was happening to the forest. Still though, unpleasant images floated before her head. She knew what Vikings did: they probably wanted her head mounted on a pike, if she was lucky. Hoping to find out more about their intentions, she spoke up.

"Your name was...'Hiccup', you said?"

"Yeah, that's it." He was trying to peer into the darkness below, leaning to the right over the dragon's shoulder.

"That's an...interesting name."

He sighed. "I know it's not the best, but in our village it's considered good luck to have a name like that!" He returned his gaze to the treetops. "Astrid, I think we should spend the night in the trees, away from the Riders. Do you see a place to land?"

A few minutes later, Astrid had spotted a sturdy enough spot, and they all descended, Merida sliding forward against Hiccup's back. Toothless ended up landing in a large tree branch, which creaked threateningly under the weight but did not snap.

Merida stared down to the forest floor far below, and her stomach flopped. As a result she didn't see Stormfly swoop through the air by her ear. The sudden gust made her yelp and duck as the dragon landed in the next tree over. "This is insane, we can't sleep up here."

Hiccup slid off of the saddle very carefully. "We've been flying all day, and we are not flying all night. Camping on the ground is out of the question, so..." He took a rope out of a bag hanging from the Night Fury's side. "You get some rest; you can sleep with Toothless, I'll figure something out here." He laid down and began trying to tie himself to the branch.

Merida gave the Night Fury a wary glance; he curled into a ball, then looked up at her expectantly.

"Oh lordy…" Taking a deep breath, as if it would be her last, she clambered into a little hollow formed by Toothless' body. Once she had settled in, a great black wing stretched over her, shielding her from the sky and keeping her secure. "This is absolutely insane," she grumbled.

Soon, the dragon's breathing slowed, and he was asleep. Merida lingered, though, still unsure about what she had gotten herself into. She had jumped on the chance to save her kingdom, but her suspicions of Hiccup and Astrid refused to let up. After all, they didn't seem to like the riders in black - the very same ones that had given Merida her ring, and wanted to be allies.

"We'll just see who gets the better of who," she muttered. Content that they were asleep, she let herself also fall into slumber, and awoke the next morning alive and unharmed.

* * *

The next day, Merida got to know Hiccup better - since she was clinging to his back most of the day, she didn't have many other options available. She heard about Berk, the Hairy Hooligans, and the story of how Hiccup had helped inspire peace with dragons. In return, she talked about her home a bit, although she was careful to not give out too much. They ended up in the branches again that night.

In the middle of the second day of flying, she noticed the forest thinning out into shrubs, and then they were over open grassland that rolled in wave-like hills. Here and there an outcrop burst through the surface. The sun was just skimming the horizon when they came to a great wide river, which flowed from east to west; a road traced along its northern bank, with clusters of bushes here and there along it. They spent the night huddled behind one of these bushes - Merida was thankful that at least they were on solid ground again, so she didn't have to be cradled by the Night Fury. As she lulled herself to sleep, she watched boats go up and down the river, their lazy lights ghostly in the shadows.

The Black Riders were not heard all night.

In the morning, Merida woke before the others. She sat up and peered around the shrubbery, watching a cart come up the road laden with lumber. It was being pulled by a pair of horses, and a man sat perched on top. Merida stepped forward as he drew close.

"Oi!" She called out, catching his eye. "Which way's Arendelle?"

"Just a day and a half up the road here." He pulled on the reins to stop the horses, and peered down in concern. "Are you in trouble?"

A flash of inspiration struck Merida. "Yeah, just a wee bit. Do you mind if I go with you on your cart?"

"Not at all, please!" He scooted over to make room for her.

"I'll just get my things." With that, she darted back behind the shrub where the others were sleeping. She grabbed her own bow and quiver, as well as a few loaves and some dried fish from the bags lying on the ground. Merida was just about to leave them behind when she saw it.

Hiccup had fallen asleep with his arm by his side, and his fingers were only loosely curled around the gold ring he had shown her the other night. Merida paused, staring at it sitting in his hand. Normally she wouldn't have even wanted it, much less risked being found out over it, but she felt something demanding she take this ring. He had something that she craved, and she needed it…

With a ginger touch, she reached under his fingertips and barely gripped the ring with her nails. Slowly she pulled it out of his grasp, then stepped away, looking at it for just a moment.

"They probably stole it anyways," she justified the act to herself. "Vikings plunder everything they can…"

But she knew that was not what had driven her to take it. Such a curious longing had kindled within her, and with a smile of satisfaction she slipped it on.

The world changed around her: it was similar to how her own ring had changed her view, but this time it was more dramatic. Merida gaped around at the shadows, playing in the mist that blurred the landscape. She could hear clearly though, better than she ever had before. The snores of the dragons and Vikings became thunderous, and the soft burble of the stream became a torrent. She could hear birds singing, people speaking far down the road, and in the distance a scream…

She stepped around the dim hazy bush and towards the road. Her hand began to feel heavy, the ring weighing down and burning her finger. She also had a strange feeling of something watching her. It grew stronger, more unbearable, and the ring's burden grew. Finally she wrenched it off again, finding herself beside the cart.

"Oh!" The driver had been tightening the reins, and he startled as Merida suddenly appeared back before him. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you coming back."

"Don't worry about it. Let's go."

With that they rolled down the road, the driver trying to start up conversation.

"I'm Frederick, by the way." He offered his hand, and Merida shook it. "Just on my way to deliver some timber, I do my logging back in Weselton but the ships charge far too much for me to send anything up river!" He sighed in his frustration. "What about you?"

"I am Merida of DunBroch." She drew up the hood on her cloak, making sure to hide her bright busy hair inside.

"Well, nice to meet you, Merida of DunBroch!" He nodded silently. "Forgive me though - where is DunBroch?"

"Oh," she was slightly hurt that Frederick had never heard of her kingdom, "just a small place far from here."

"Huh." Frederick caught his cue to not pursue the topic. "I'm guessing you've never been to Arendelle before? It's a nice place, I live there in the summers. In the winters, though, the family and I head to Weselton." He jerked his head back down the road. "If you need a place to stay, we can spare some room?"

"That'd be lovely," Merida replied. If she could stay in Arendelle until this Jack arrived, she could get answers from him, she knew it.

They continued their conversation, drifting from topic to topic, for about an hour. Along the way, the rolling hills gave way to sharp stone mountains, and the road began leading up through them among trees which, instead of the bushy rowans and oaks that Merida had grown up with, were tall and skinny conifers.

Merida was just telling a particularly humorous memory that involved her brothers, her father, and a raw sheep's stomach when they heard a gasp from someone going on the road the other way.

"What on…" Frederick turned around, and Merida saw his eyes grow wide. He drew a sharp breath in terror, prompting her to also turn.

"I knew it..." She yanked the hood lower over her eyes as she spotted Toothless and Stormfly soaring over the road, with Hiccup and Astrid leaning over and scanning the ground below. Merida knew who they were looking for…

"Unbelievable!" Frederick hunched down as they passed overhead. "In all my life, I've never seen a dragon anywhere this far north! One time I thought I saw one in the Dark Forest to the south, but it was just a glimpse; I half-believed they didn't exist."

Merida didn't reply as they continued on past - they hadn't seen her. About a league ahead, they began to circle around each other. It looked like they were talking, oblivious to the people on the road who were either staring up in awe or otherwise attempting to hide themselves and their cargo. Finally the two dragons began soaring back in the other direction, and they soon vanished into the sky behind the cart.

"What…" Frederick was visibly shaken. "What do you think that was about?"

"I don't know," Merida said. "But they're gone now, not a worry."

"I hope not. My business would not do well with fire-breathing animals around." He nodded towards the wood in the back, and smirked, even though the fear was still etched in his face.

Several minutes passed by, and eventually Frederick had managed to put the incident out of his mind. Merida meanwhile felt triumphant. She had outsmarted the Vikings, and soon she would be able to figure out what was afflicting her home. Speaking of her home, something Frederick had said stuck with her…

"You were saying something," she began the next time there was a break in conversation, "about a Dark Forest to the south of here?"

He raised his eyebrows. "DunBroch must be _very_ far, if you don't know about the Dark Forest. It's a very strange and dangerous place. I only went there once, to the very northern edge by Weselton, to see if I could find better timber. But I wouldn't dare go there again. Dragons, demons, spirits, all floating around in the trees. And the only people that live there, brutal savages."

Merida felt very indignant at this label, but kept her mouth shut - she needed this ride to Arendelle, and the place to stay at. He continued:

"Barbarians, they are. And a witch that lives in the forest, going from place to place." He shook his head. "Even if the trees grew gold there, you could not pay me enough to make me return."

Merida nodded. "I see…" She shivered as his words settled into her mind. He didn't mean anything cruel, but it still hurt to hear him speak like that.

She was just brooding over his words when the clatter of hooves sounded far behind them.

"Sounds like someone's coming on fast. Might be a royal envoy." Frederick steered the cart to the side of the road. "We'll let them pass."

But Merida looked behind, and saw a group of four Black Riders. They were just like the ones that had handed her her own ring, but now they didn't seem at all diplomatic. In fact, a definite sense of malice emanated from them as people jumped out of their way. Their invisible faces were looking right at Merida. A sick feeling began to curdle in her stomach, a dawning horror that she may have been mistaken...

"Go…" she whispered. "Go."

"We're just going to let them pass by," Frederick tried to explain. "We don't want to be-"

"I said go!" Merida seized the reins herself and gave them a sharp crack. The horses began to step forward, then trot.

"GO!" With a holler, she gave another snap, and the horses began to gallop.

"What are you doing?!" Frederick fell back in his seat, clutching his hat to his head as the cart bolted forward. "Look out!"

People and carts littered the road ahead. Merida heard several shouts and screams as she tried to steer around them, very nearly running down several travelers. The screeching of the Riders behind her grew louder, and she risked a very brief look back.

They were coming alongside the cart now, their black robes billowing in the breeze. "Stop the cart!" They cried to her, their voices clear and high above the clatter of the wheels. "Stop the cart and give us what is ours! Do not forsake the friendship of our master!" But they gave off such a hostile aura, and their voices screamed with rage.

"Go back!" She yelled. "Go back to your lord and master! If this is how he treats his friends, I won't be one of them!"

With an inhuman snarl, the rider reached out and grabbed Merida's arm. She felt him trying to drag her off the cart seat. Frederick kept looking on in terror as Merida yanked on the reins and gave the cart a sharp swerve to the right.

The rider screamed and relinquished his grip, nearly getting crushed between the wooden cart and the sheer stone wall. On her left, Merida saw two more trying to overtake the cart and cut it off. She swerved over towards them, and they fell back as well.

"Look, there!" Frederick pointed ahead.

They had just mounted the top of the peak, and now the road zig-zagged below them. It led to a palace which sat on an island in the middle of a fjord. A town lay scattered around the road, cottages leading down to the water's edge. Merida had only a second to take it all in before she was forced back to her more immediate surroundings.

"Slow down!" Frederick begged, "we're going to crash!"

But the Black Riders were still hot on their tail, and Merida hollered, "Out of the way!"

They rounded a bend so quickly that she actually felt the cart lift up on one wheel before slamming back onto the cobblestone path. Up ahead, she saw two riders trying to scramble down the slope off of the road, trying to cut her off. She snapped the reins, willing just a little more speed into the horses, and cleared the riders before they could get in her path.

Frederick yelled and threw his hands before his face - they were heading straight for a patch of stalls. Merida tried to swerve aside, but still clipped the corner of one. Looking back, she saw the roof collapsing, pots of grains and oils spilling everywhere.

"You have to slow down!" He repeated. "We're going downhill!"

Merida could see the horses getting more and more agitated, and the Riders were beginning to push forward again. She felt her bow on her back. If she had to fight them off, she'd do it…

Then a high-pitched scream, different from the Riders' sounded in the sky. Merida looked up.

"Oh no…"

Toothless was bearing down on them, his mouth wide and glowing a brilliant purple. This was it, they were going to be blasted by dragon fire.

He fired.

Frederick threw his arms in front of himself again, but the plasma bolt didn't hit them; instead the Rider to their right was blasted off his horse and sent reeling back in the air. Merida watched in shock; in her surprise, Frederick grabbed the reins from her and yanked back, yelling "Whoa! Whoa!"

Now Stormfly was reeling around, landing in front of the cart. With a loud squawk, she whipped her tail around and sent a volley of spines at the Riders, driving them back. Merida felt the spines fly by her hair, and she involuntarily cringed.

There was another scream, and another blast from Toothless. The two remaining Riders began to fall back, and the ones that were hit scrambled back to their feet and also hurried off, trying to get their mounts back.

Merida sat on the cart, gasping for breath. The fatigue began to weigh on her now, and she glanced at Frederick. He kept an iron grip on the reigns, his knuckles turning white. She turned to exit the cart, and found Hiccup and Astrid standing there.

"What were you thinking?!" Hiccup hollered. "You just snuck off, and with the Ring too!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do?! You're Vikings!"

Astrid stepped forward, crossing her arms. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You don't have a very good reputation for yourselves! You're cruel, pillaging warriors!" But even as she spoke, she felt a crushing shame, and she remembered what Frederick had been saying...

"Some tribes are," Hiccup nodded. "But we're not one of them. We told you, we're Hooligans - we haven't declared a war in five generations. We fish, hunt, train dragons, but we are NOT murderers and thieves."

Merida nodded slowly, finally accepting that they spoke the truth. They had had plenty of opportunities to kill her, yet here she stood. "I...I'm sorry," she looked into Hiccup's eyes. "But hey...at least you found me again. And we're in Arendelle, at least?"

Hiccup shook his head. "Where's the Ring?"

"Oh, that. That might have been a bit much for me, I don't know why I took-"

"Where is it?!" Hiccup advanced on her; from Astrid's look, apparently this level of rage was not normal for him. "What did you do with it?!"

"It's right here, calm down!" She took the ring from her sack and held it out. He snatched it from her and stuffed it into his pocket. "What's the big deal, it's just a ring, nothing even on it."

Before Hiccup could retort, Merida felt a sharp point on her back. Glancing around behind her, she saw Frederick had stepped off of the cart, and was now in frantic conversation with what she took to be a guard in a square green hat and jacket. Another guard had his sword pointing at Merida's back. Turning back around, she saw more guards surrounding the pair of Vikings and the dragons, which snarled.

"Don't do anything," the guard holding Merida said. "We're going to the castle. Now. And you're going to answer to the queen for what you've done."


	9. Arendelle

_Sorry for the long wait - school just started back for me, and I've been readjusting to my schedule._

* * *

Elsa had her hands folded and pressed against her lips. Her elbows rested on the table, and her eyes scanned the map that lay before her.

"I do not believe we can determine the loyalty of the Southern Isles at this time." A man in a green general's uniform stood opposite the table from her. "The ruling family has formally condemned the actions of Prince Hans, but rumors persist that some of the brothers are still conspiring amongst themselves. We cannot rule out the possibility that another attempt will be made to seize the throne - this time, more likely, by force."

"Right, right." Elsa stared at the Southern Isles, which sat a ways west of Arendelle, broken islands along the coast. Beyond their southernmost point, the map showed only fog and crude depictions of hideous winged monsters. Her gaze wandered back up to Arendelle, then across to Weselton, then Corona.

"Your Majesty," he broke the long uncomfortable silence, "I must urge you again to reconsider your decision. If we can enforce a total embargo on Weselton, we can cripple them and turn the situation-"

"Into a war," Elsa finished for him. "And that's the last thing I want to have happen."

"It will be almost bloodless!" He persisted. "Once Weselton has been crippled, Corona will be nearly defenseless. Its walls are not yet constructed, we will -"

"I don't _want_ anything like that to happen!" Elsa repeated. "There is nothing that we can't talk through at the moment." She reached her finger down to the map. "Keep everyone _here_ , to defend ourselves. If we make any move on Corona, they may take it as hostile, and…"

"No, he didn't!" Anna's hushed whispering interrupted. She and Kristoff kept snickering as Elsa continued.

"...they may treat it as hostile, and produce an actual declaration…"

Another laugh, this time from Kristoff. Apparently Anna had just made a very witty remark. Elsa took a deep breath, and spoke very quickly.

"If we make any move on Corona they make take it as hostile and declare war against us!" With a disgusted sigh she turned to her sister and her brother-in-law. "Look, can you maybe have your conversation somewhere else?"

"Look, I'm sorry!" Kristoff said. "I just remembered something that I really wanted to tell Anna, it was very important."

"I could tell."

"We're really sorry," Anna added. "We won't make a peep the rest of the time."

"Thank you. And remember, please, you're the princess and prince! A lot of responsibility comes from having those titles." She was about to address the general again to apologize when yet another interruption came through the doors, this one in the form of another green-uniformed soldier.

"Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, Prince Kristoff." His voice was curt. "A group of troublemakers were arrested in the village. Some of them escaped, but we have most of them. They are being held in the main hall."

She sighed - this was pressing business for the crown? "Okay, give them a warning and let them go, like always. I mean, were they causing a lot of damage? Did they hurt someone?"

"A lot of chaos, yes. But I insist you see for yourself, your Majesty."

Elsa squeezed her eyes shut. "Very well, I'll be there in a minute." He marched out the door, and she turned to the general. "My decision still stands. Keep the troops near Arendelle, no aggressive maneuvers."

He took a deep breath. "If you wish, your Majesty." With that Elsa left, with Anna and Kristoff in tow.

"Listen, Elsa," Anna came up beside her. "I really am sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt in there…"

"It's okay." Elsa wrapped her arm around her. "We just have to be proper in front of the soldiers. To tell you the truth," she looked around to make sure they weren't overheard by the wrong people, "I'm tired of all these meetings too. They act like we're at war!"

"A bunch of windbags, if you ask me." Kristoff clearly showed less tact.

"They _are_ important, Kristoff." Anna rolled her eyes. "They're just worried. And when they're worried, they keep talking and talking..."

"Hm," Elsa smirked. "Tell me about it."

They kept talking until they had reached the door to the main hall. Elsa paused to compose herself - regal, but not overly intimidating. When she felt she had the proper atmosphere, she pushed the doors open, Anna and Kristoff still behind her. All three of them gasped.

Their eyes snapped immediately to the two large dragons which were being held at swordpoint, one black and the other bright blue. They were not being restrained and seemed peaceful enough; at the same time, they glared at the guards and snarled if any got too close. Besides the dragons were three people, who all had their hands tied with rope. One was a skinny young man who wore leather armor. The other two were women: one wore a dark blue dress, and the other had a leather skirt with a fur coat and red top.

After spending a second to take the scene in, Elsa spoke: "What...is this?"

"Your Majesty, these are the troublemakers I told you about." It was the same soldier as before. "They crashed a cart in the middle of the village, and the dragon riders," he pointed to the woman in a skirt and to the man, " were fighting a group of horsemen. The entire place was in chaos, the cart nearly ran down twenty people, and everyone is still in a panic about the dragons."

Elsa again had to pause to take it all in. "Dragon riders…" She responded slowly, "I see…"

"We have their weapons." He motioned for a group of guards to come forward, and in their hands they carried a bow and quiver, an axe, three knives, and what seemed to be an empty sword hilt, which Anna picked up.

"Ah, careful, careful!" The young man tried to step forward, but was stopped by the guards. "Hey, don't play with that."

Anna looked at him, and turned the hilt away from her face. "How do you work it?" she asked.

At that moment her fingers pressed a button, and a hollow blade extended out, covered in fire.

"Whoa!" She dropped it with a clatter, throwing her hands in the air as she and everyone else backed away from it.

"It's okay!" The young man tried to hold up his hands in calm. "It's okay, it'll burn itself out. Just hit the other button there, and it'll contract again."

One of the guards did so, picking it up off the marble floor and keeping it secure in his grasp. Anna thought for a moment, then asked: "Who are you?"

"Er, I'm Hiccup, chief of the Hooligan Tribe. This is Astrid, Merida, Toothless, and Stormfly." He pointed to each in turn.

"Wait wait," Kristoff scrunched up his eyes. "Hiccup?"

"Yeah…"

"Your name is 'Hiccup'?"

"Why does everyone have a problem with my name?!" He grunted. "Yes, it's Hiccup. Hic-cup. And I happen to like it, thank you for asking."

At that moment Astrid came up beside him and gave him a nudge with her elbow. She whispered in his ear, while Elsa and Anna turned to each other.

"Have you ever seen anything like them?" Elsa gave another peek over her shoulder.

"No, and I've been out of the palace a lot more than you..."

"I have." The two sisters turned to Kristoff. "I was...eleven, I think? Sven and I, we were messing around outside of Weselton, where the river runs by the Dark Forest, and I saw a group of horsemen in the trees. They were dressed in the same funny clothes, and their voices sounded kinda weird, like-"

"Oi!" Merida called out. "We got something to ask you!"

"Like that," Kristoff finished, wide-eyed. "Exactly like that."

Elsa stepped forward. "What is it?"

"Our rings," Hiccup spoke up. "I want the rings we had!"

"They did have these, your Majesty." Another guard held out his hand to show three rings. "Your Majesty?"

Elsa felt her breath steal away. Her eyes turned down to look at her own hand, at a silver band adorned with brilliant pale blue stones.

"They visited you too?" She whispered.

Hiccup's eyes found her ring. "The Black Riders..."

Elsa looked back up, her mouth agape. "Do you know who gave us these?"

"Er…" He seemed to be debating with himself. "Ah, we do, but it's kind of a long story. Just try not to keep yours on so much."

"Why?" Her fingers traced around the ring's edge. "What do you know about them?"

"Again, long story. Just, trust me on this. Let us have our stuff back, and we'll take care of it." His gaze rested on the other rings.

"But why are you here in the first place?"

"We're here waiting for a friend," Astrid answered. "Or, a friend of a friend." Her face suddenly lit up. "Do you know anyone around here who might be good with magic, things like that? Maybe that's why he wanted us to come up here."

Elsa turned around to face Anna and Kristoff, who were both smirking.

"I happen to have a few in-laws who could help…"

* * *

The three prisoners were freed from their bonds and offered horses. Only Merida accepted; the other two were content to ride their dragons to the trolls' clearing. Elsa and Anna allowed it, but with a condition that the generals insisted on.

"Unbelievable," Anna heard Hiccup complaining. He was glaring at the ties that had been placed around Toothless' wings. The Night Fury wasn't in pain, but he wasn't particularly thrilled either at being grounded.

Elsa sighed. "Look, no offense, but we don't know how much we can trust you. The last thing we want is you flying away-"

"As long you have my ring, I'm not going anywhere." It was like he had reminded himself of something, because he looked around. "Where is it?"

Anna answered, "We have your stuff, we're carrying it with us." She held up a small bag in her hand, and Elsa held up another. "Once you figure out what you need to, you go flying away, and that's that."

Hiccup sighed. "That's fair enough, I guess." With that he and Astrid mounted their dragons, and everyone else climbed onto their horses before Elsa and Anna led the way out.

"Take care of the castle, Kristoff!" Anna turned back and waved. "No wild parties, okay?"

"Oh darn, there go my plans." He waved back. "Tell the family I said 'Hi'."

"Will do!" With that Anna turned back around and watched as their path slowly led into the mountains. The trail began to narrow, and Anna fell back to cover the rear of the line to catch any stragglers. It was strange, watching the lumbering reptiles go past; her horse gave a nervous whinny and pawed the ground as they came close.

"Shhhh, it's okay." Anna rubbed the top of his neck. "It's okay…"

After the two dragons came Merida, who gave her a quick nod, and then Anna began following them. The path was slowly leading up the slope, with tree roots hugging the sheer rock as their tops blossomed far above Anna's head. Day was slipping away to dusk, and the cooling winds from the ocean could be felt.

"So," Elsa's voice floated from the front. "Where are you three from again?"

Hiccup and Astrid began to talk about their home island, Berk, followed by Merida opening up about the kingdom of DunBroch.

"-and sometimes put on a festival," she spoke as if she was already at a celebration, "with banners and tents, and the best food you could imagine!"

"Wow, sounds like a great time!" Anna spoke up, the first time in a while. Being in the back made it hard for the others to turn and see her, and she was spending the time entertaining herself with anything she could find. For example, she now held in her hands Hiccup's fire sword, Inferno, which had been in her bag. She examined it very closely, careful to not activate it again. It was a brilliant device, and its fire had been like none Anna had ever seen. With ginger fingers Anna replaced it in the sack, and shuffled around a little bit inside. Peeking up to ensure she hadn't alerted the others, she reached in near the bottom and pulled out the set of three rings.

One of them was shaped like a pair of snakes biting a ruby; another had intricate swirls which held a beautiful purple stone. A third had no embellishment or decoration, no more than a thick golden band. Yet, it seemed the loveliest of the trio. She peeked back up again, wondering if anyone would see her…

Soon enough they had reached the clearing, and everyone dismounted.

"So…" Astrid looked around. "Where are they?" Hiccup approached a small round boulder - which Anna knew was not a boulder. The words had barely left Astrid's mouth when the "rocks" began to move.

"Gyah-ah!" Hiccup flinched away as the trolls rolled up close and unfurled themselves.

"Anna, Elsa, good to see you! How are you?" Cliff and Bulda gestured for the pair of them to kneel, and they wrapped their arms around their necks.

"Hi! We're good!"

"How's Kristoff, why didn't he come?"

"Oh, castle-sitting." Anna stood up again. "He knows how to keep the place clean - or at least, he'd better know…"

"Ha, you should have seen him as a kid!" Cliff laughed. "Never picked up after himself, during the winter months we'd find blocks of ice everywhere, on top of what the storms brought, mind you!"

"Ohh," Bulda motioned for him to quiet, and she pointed. "Who're your friends?"

"Oh, er, these are some people we met today, and they're looking for someone to help them. Someone skilled with magic."

"Well now," Pabbie stepped forward, his short mossy cloak hanging behind him, "I think I can help with that. Come here."

"Erm…" Hiccup edged forward, with Astrid and Merida behind him. He stood for a moment looking awkward, unsure whether to kneel.

"Come now, no reason to be afraid of me." Pabbie chuckled. "What can I do for you?"

Hiccup finally opened his mouth. "I'm a friend of Jack Frost, and he told me to wait in Arendelle. We," he motioned to Astrid, "are from Berk. She's from a kingdom called DunBroch, and we're here on a very important errand."

"Frost…" Pabbie rested his stubby hand on his mouth. "Of the Guardians?"

"Yes, yes!" Hiccup was excited that Pabbie had understood. Anna, meanwhile, was confused. She had heard the legends of Jack Frost and the Guardians, and trusted in them since childhood, but did this boy really think he was actually _friends_ with them?

"Berk...DunBroch…" Pabbie looked at the dragons, and his bushy green eyebrows furrowed. "Did you ride here on those?"

"Uh, yeah. Back in Berk, we ride them."

"How?"

"We trained them, all of them. Well, almost all of them, some of them are a bit wild still, but you know, dragons will be dragons…"

"But how? Who showed you how?"

"Um…" Hiccup looked back at Astrid. "As a matter of fact, _I_ was the one who figured it out, heh," He gave a nervous laugh as Pabbie grew more concerned. "And I showed everyone."

Pabbie seemed to be thinking hard. "What did you say your errand was, again?"

"It's about a ring." Hiccup gulped, hesitated before he continued: " _The_ Ring."

Anna watched Pabbie's eyebrows raise, and his face go wide.

"You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

"I do," Pabbie whispered. "Is it really true, where is it?"

"They have it," Hiccup pointed at Elsa and Anna. Anna gave a small gasp.

"Good, that's good," Anna relaxed a bit when Pabbie didn't demand to see it. "Now listen close, all of you: have any of you received any strange gifts recently?"

"I was given a ring," Merida volunteered. Hiccup and Elsa also admitted their own receipts.

"Then it is true," he gazed sadly at Elsa. "I so hoped it wasn't…"

"What?" Elsa stood up, beginning to back away. "Hoped what wasn't true?"

"There is something you three must know about each other. It will be hard to hear, but it may help save yourselves and the fate of all peoples. There is an ancient poem-"

"No!"

The sharp voice was terrifyingly familiar; all whirled around to see a wraith emerging from the shadows.

"Do not listen to him and his _lies_!" The figure pointed at Pabbie. "He would take the Ring for himself, and subjugate you with it. He knows how to harness its power, yet not fully…" It held out a hand, covered in steel, towards Merida. "Return the Ring to my lord, and he shall show you great things. The follies of trolls are nothing compared to the will of Sauron."

"Why should I help you?!" Merida demanded. "You nearly killed me!"

"Our lord does not take kindly to those who refuse his benevolence," the voice snapped. "But he will forgive, in reward for the return of his dearest possession."

"That's enough," Pabbie stepped forward, and all the trolls gathered behind him. Anna had never seen them look so angered. "Leave us alone!" Toothless and Stormfly also stalked forward, scowling at the unwelcome visitor.

The wraith did not move. "Elsa, _Bordurub_ , you know what I say is wise. Why turn away from help in your hour of need? Are you not short allies?"

"Don't listen to him," Anna hissed in her ear. "I don't like this…"

"Speak all you want of peace, but you know that war looms before you." The Nazgûl stepped forward. "You can still prevent that war, you know how to do it: become so strong, no one would dare fight you. And you can, you can have an ally that no one will risk battle with. All we ask for is the Ring. Surely you can convince _Frumgru,"_ he opened his hand towards Merida, "to see reason?"

Elsa closed her eyes, looked down, took a deep breath. Then she looked up.

"I don't just want peace. I want a peace that will last. Building armies don't make peace." She shook her head. "And for your information, Merida does not have any ring at all. So listen to what Pabbie did: leave us alone!"

The wraith did nothing for a moment, only staring at Elsa with a face invisible against the black hood. Then he reached down to his waist.

From a scabbard he produced a long sword, the _sching_ long and echoing in the night.

"How dare you?!" Pabbie raised his palms; a brilliant blue mist streamed from them, threatening to ensnare the Nazgûl. The wraith extended one of his hands, and the blue changed into a fiery cloud. Pabbie yelled in pain and stumbled back. The hooded figure held his sword before him, and began to advance.

"Elsa…" Anna tried to get her sister's attention. "Look."

Behind the first wraith was a bank of shadow, and from it melted another figure, again with its sword held before it. Then there was a third, stepping silently towards them. Then another. Then another.

"Hurry! Get your stuff!" Anna yelled. As Hiccup, Astrid, and Merida sprang for the bags, she turned back to watch more figures advancing out of the dark.

"The Nine…" Hiccup whispered. His voice sounded cracked. "Toothless? Stormfly?!"

The dragons pounced and landed in front of the wraiths, practically daring them to come closer. Anna saw one of the figures raise his hand before Stormfly's face. The dragon froze; her spines perked up, and then she tumbled onto her side, unconscious.

"Stormfly!" Astrid lunged with her axe. The Nazgûl expertly dodged her swing, and disarmed her with a casual parry. Without missing a beat, he thrust his hand before Toothless, and in the same way incapacitated the dragon.

"No!" Hiccup yelled as the Nazgûl all advanced, lowering their swords, herding them all together. Merida nocked an arrow and sent it flying. It was quickly swatted aside by a deft flick of the blade. Elsa tried to shoot a bolt of ice; their magic stopped it dead in the air. Hiccup swung with his flaming sword. They fell back a bit - until Hiccup overreached, and was disarmed by clever swordsmanship. "Ah!"

With lightning action he was thrown to the ground. Anna and Elsa stumbled backwards as the Nazgûl closed in, scattering the trolls. Again Elsa tried to hurl a wave of frost at them, but a lazy flick of their hands annulled her attack. One of the wraiths leaped forward and grabbed Merida by the throat. "Where is the Ring, girl?!"

"I don't have it!" She spluttered. "I don't!"

"Who then?!"

Anna couldn't speak - the words pierced her heart with terror. She saw them slowly look around at her, sprawled on the ground, fumbling in her pocket.

She pulled out the small golden ring.

Without a word, the foremost of the figures came forward, pulling a long knife from his belt. Anna scrambled around, looking for something, anything to defend herself with.

"Give it to me!" The cold voice demanded.

But she didn't want to. Something made her feel that surrendering the ring would be a horrible, horrible mistake. At the same time she realized this, her fingers closed around one of the knives that the three prisoners had worn.

"Do not be foolish, you are not needed to us! Shall we make you useful as an example?"

"No!" Anna glared at the figure, tall and looming and dark as a moonless night. She rushed him.

A shard of ice pierced her shoulder, and she fell, yelling in pain.

She saw a flash of light, a chorus of screams, a distant jingle of bells…

Then her eyes closed.


	10. Nicholas St North

Anna felt cold. Such intense cold, like when her sister had accidentally cursed her.

But then, there hadn't been the visions.

Dark shapes swirled before her, hideous faces that lurked in shadows. Shrouds and cloaks all about. They were drawing nearer, or was she drawing nearer? So close…

She heard a song. Sweet, glorious, far away.

Anna felt herself pause, no longer approaching the darkness. Turning, she saw a golden light, distant, so very very distant. But she had to reach it.

The faces hissed, calling her back, demanding she join them and feel their icy clasp. But the light…

And now it was not dark. No longer stifling. The cold trickled from her heart, as the words kept beckoning.

" _Come back from the veil, for this world is thine; Flower, drive them back, call back what once was mine..."_

Gold filled her vision, and a warmth blossomed over her. She was rising, rising...

* * *

Anna opened her eyes, and the brightness hurt. Squinting until her vision adjusted, she saw someone standing over her, swishing her hair back over her shoulder.

"Rapunzel…?" She whispered. "What...what am I doing in Corona?"

"Well," she smirked. "You're not exactly in Corona."

Anna tilted her head over, and started at the sight of a large man with a long white mustache and beard leaning over her. "You alright?" he asked.

"I think so," she whispered. She rubbed her hand over her chest: it was sore, and she felt a closed wound. "What happened?"

"Cursed blade," he leaned away and picked up an empty hilt, showing it to her. "You will be fine, though, thanks to her."

Anna looked at Rapunzel again, then turned back to the man. "Who are you?"

"Well, that depends on who you ask!" He chuckled heartily. "All different names, all over the world! But," he bobbed his head, "I call myself North. Nicholas St. North."

His laughter had stirred a renewed warmth in Anna, an excitement that she felt every year, on Christmas. Before he even finished saying his name, she knew who he was.

"You're Saint Nicholas…"

"As I said, different names!" He beamed down at her. "How are you feeling?"

Anna pushed herself to a sitting position. She took a deep breath. So far, so good. She opened the covers, revealing that she was still in the same dress. Her feet swung off the bed and onto the floor. Rapunzel and North each offered her a hand as she stood, shaking a bit.

"I...I think I'm okay."

"Wonderful!" He clapped his hands together. "I'll go let everyone know. Feel free to join us, I think they'll be happy to see you." North left, leaving Anna and Rapunzel alone.

Anna took a faltering step forward, still clutching Rapunzel's hand. Her chest clenched in pain, but immediately released. Another step, more ginger. Better, better…

"There we go," Rapunzel watched her feet, her gait becoming more sure. "You're getting it!"

Once Anna could walk without falling, she finally had a chance to look at the room. It was entirely made of wood, with shelves holding strange trinkets that whirred and chugged and spun and belched smoke. The bed had a dark frame with rich crimson covers, and behind it a window which opened on snowy peaks. Her eyes traveled around until they rested on Rapunzel again. Anna felt a question bubble to her lips:

"Your hair…"

"Oh, yeah." Rapunzel ran her fingers through it, holding it up to see. "It grew back. I got a present, and-"

"Was it a ring?"

"Yeah," her eyes narrowed, "how did you know?"

"There's been a lot of weird things going on. That's actually why I ended up…" she gestured towards the bed. "Thank you, by the way."

"Oh, yeah. It was nothing." Rapunzel looked awkward, and Anna felt the same way. What were they supposed to say, with their respective kingdoms butting heads? "Yeah, Father Christmas burst into the castle demanding that we come with him, and I mean, he's Father Christmas…"

"Wait, we?"

It seemed like a sudden weight hit Rapunzel. "Come on, I'll show you…"

They went through the door, passed a couple of diminutive creatures in pointed hats ("Elves," Rapunzel explained when she saw Anna's confusion), and entered into a room with couches and a wide window. The couches were occupied, but as soon as the two of them entered someone sprang up.

"Anna!" Elsa raced over and nearly knocked her over. She wrapped her arms around her. "Oh Anna, I was so…" She pushed back to look at her face. "You're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." She smiled and returned the hug.

"Oh, you should have seen it." Elsa spoke. "It was awful, you lunged and he swung, and all of a sudden St. Nicholas appears out of nowhere in his sleigh, and the Sandman suddenly appeared and-"

"Who?"

"Oh, Ole Close-Eye? Remember the tales Mom and Dad used to tell us?"

"No way…" But when she turned around, Anna spotted a short round man, seemingly made up entirely of golden sand. A fine hat, also made of sand, popped into being on his head, and he tipped it in greeting. She gave a gentle wave, and looked around at everyone. Hiccup and Astrid were standing, their dragons behind the couches, while Merida looked over from the window. North was beaming at her, and Rapunzel was walking over to-

"Oh!" Anna gave a polite bow in greeting. "King Robin, I didn't realize that you were here too."

The King of Corona gave a stiff bow in return. "Quite alright." He rested a hand on Rapunzel's shoulder. "I'm glad to see you're feeling better." He didn't say any more, and an uneasy silence was allowed to linger.

North clapped his hands loudly, shattering the air. "Wonderful! We're all here!" He gave another hearty laugh, but cut himself short. "Ohp! What am I saying, silly me. Sandy, do you think you can take care of our little problem on your own?"

The Sandman gave a salute.

"Excellent, go at it!" He watched him leave, before turning to the others. "Would you all like fruitcake? Milk? Cookies?"

Robin cleared his throat. "I appreciate the hospitality, North, but I'm afraid we have to return to Corona at once. I'm sure that Queen Elsa also has a kingdom to run," he glanced at her.

"Did you leave no one in charge?" North replied.

"My wife, queen consort, but our affairs are too much for a single person, we've always done it together."

"I'm sure she'll be fine, we have important things to discuss. Ah! Here we are!" Before the king could reply, several elves had run in with silver trays held high over their heads, burdened with cookies and pitchers of milk and a large fruitcake. Anna watched as the elves stood on their toes to slide them onto the center table. "Help yourselves!"

"Look, he does have a good point." Elsa spoke this time. "We all have responsibilities back home, especially me. And I am determined to fill them." She cast a glance back towards at King Robin.

"Hold the horses, please. It's important for all of you, about this." He pulled out a silver chain. Hooked onto it was the golden ring that Anna had been holding, the one that the wraiths had wanted. Everyone's eyes, even the elves', seemed to gravitate to it. "We're just waiting until we're all together." He put it away in his pocket, and the room seemed to relax again.

"What about Jack, though?" Hiccup piped up, his mouth half full of cookie. He tried to swallow to speak more clearly, and gratefully accepted a glass of milk from an eager elf. "He said he was in trouble-"

"Don't worry, we're still expecting him. Ah, yes?" North was distracted by a sound behind him - a large hairy creature had come through the door and made some grunting yells, which apparently North understood. "I'll be right there. I have to go take care of toy business," he explained to the others. "Please, explore! If the door is open, go on in!" And with that, he left.

Anna sighed, and picked a couple of cookies for herself. Elsa also took a few.

"Do you think Kristoff will do alright?" Elsa asked.

"I think he'll be okay. It'll be funny though," she snorted. "King Kristoff."

"Kristoff the Reindeer Friend." Elsa grinned. "How's that for the history books?"

Anna had to cover her mouth as she laughed. Looking around, she gestured. "You know, yesterday I would have never thought we'd meet so many…" she struggled for the right words, "...strange people."

"And some of them aren't even people." They watched as Toothless weaved in between the figures, watching their faces, as he snuck up on a platter of cookies. With a single lick, the dish was clear.

"Toothless!" Hiccup began to chastise the dragon. He laid his ears back and opened his eyes up, big and soulful. In the end it seemed to move Hiccup. "Okay, but don't be eating sweets. It's not good for you, you're a dragon." He cocked a brow and turned away, picking another cookie from the plate. As soon as his back was turned, Toothless gave a mocking grumble, trying to impersonate his bossy person, before he slyly swept another plate clean with his tongue.

Anna laughed with Elsa, before she began to float around the room. Merida was still by the window, gazing out over the mountains.

"Oh, thank you." Anna accepted a glass of milk from an elf before she spoke to Merida. "Hello."

Merida gave her a wave, pointing at her mouth to indicate she was chewing.

"You were really brave," Anna went on. "Trying to shoot the riders like you did."

She swallowed. "Aye, thank you. But you, you went right after them!" She laughed. "Showed us all up, didn't ye?"

Anna snorted. Now that it was after the fact, and she knew she'd be okay, the vision of herself running screaming at the wraiths, knife in hand, did seem almost comedic. "I don't know why I did it, really."

"It's because you have guts!" Merida nodded, before turning to the mountains again. "They're lovely, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they remind me of Arendelle." Anna looked out over them, like great stone hands reaching for the sky. A mist streamed from their edges, carried away by the wind. "Listen, sorry, that we, uh, held you prisoner and all. Nothing personal, the whole kingdom's just on edge right now…"

"Hmm, yours and mine." She sighed. "And in any sense, it was your guards, really."

"Ha, true." Anna suddenly felt a snort of air behind her. Turning around, she saw Stormfly looking over her shoulder. The dragon gave a curious squawk as she turned her beady eyes to Anna, then Merida. Anna put out a cautious hand, and not receiving any objection from the dragon, she patted its snout.

"You forgive pretty quickly, don't you?" Anna wondered aloud. _I'm petting a dragon right now,_ she thought. _Unbelievable._

Merida joined right beside her, and Stormfly was visibly pleased by all the attention. "I wonder who this 'Jack' is," Merida mused. "I heard Hiccup and Astrid talking about him, all I know is that he's a friend."

"Apparently he's in danger," Anna muttered. "I hope it's not too bad."

* * *

"How do you like it, Jack?"

Jack felt himself thrown against the wall of his cell. Pitch chuckled.

"Oh, I know you've been watching. I hoped you would. It's lovely, isn't it?"

With a growl, Jack forced himself back from the wall. "What do you even want with me?!"

"I want you to see." He was forced against the wall again. "I want you to see where fun and hope get you!"

The forges still raged outside, he could see them. He felt a yank, and was torn away and laid flat on the stone floor.

"You have nothing and no one." Pitch towered over him. "The sooner you realize that you can't stop us, Jack, the easier it'll be for you. You're frivolous, useless!"

He pushed himself up from the ground, panting. The peephole stood before him, and through it he could still see the burning fires - and a tiny trickle of gold. Jack smiled.

"What did he promise you?"

The question hung in there. Jack could close his eyes and just imagine the shock playing on Pitch's face.

"What did you say?"

"What did Sauron say he'd give you? A kingdom? A place by his throne?"

"The Warren. And Dun Broch. My own seat in the world."

"And you believed him." Despite his pain, Jack laughed as he got to his feet. "I think you're in for a rude awakening. After, that's what happens in nightmares: you wake up."

The wall tore away behind him, and he felt a rush as an avalanche of gold drowned Pitch. Then Jack was snatched up, and the sound of the orcs and Pitch's furious scream fell far away as he and Sandman rocketed into the sky.


	11. The Prophecy

Pitch sat at his rough-hewn table, his head resting against his palm. He scowled as he tapped his fingers.

Jack didn't know anything, he didn't know what Sauron had promised. And he had the nerve to tell Pitch he'd be betrayed? He was a filthy liar, a spoiled brat who stopped growing up after he fell into that pond. He didn't know…

Pitch rose, prompting several goblins to scurry out of his path as he swept past them. He pushed open a pair of double doors and strode into the room.

It was sheltered away from the outside, and in the middle stood a fine wooden pedestal adorned with rabbits and flowers. Pitch reminded himself he had to replace it, and stepped forward.

A snowglobe rested on the pedestal, its glass bulb empty. Pitch took a deep breath. He rested his hand on it, and lifted it before his face.

"Show me the…" he paused, unsure whether to go through with it. But it didn't matter, as the snow inside began to swirl. Then it blackened, caught aflame. turning the water into a dark swirl with flashes of fire.

 _I know you are there. What is it? Why do you hesitate?_ He heard the words in his mind, despite no voice reaching his ears.

"Jack Frost," Pitch spoke. "He's escaped, the Sandman broke him out."

A terrible anger burned from the globe. _Why did you not guard him better?!_

"Look, I can still pull off my end of the deal. Can you deliver on yours?"

He could feel a hard glare, even though he couldn't penetrate the cloud within the snowglobe. _You mean, WILL I deliver? You doubt my word…_

"No, no!" Pitch grew angry. "It's just something the boy said, but I do not believe it."

 _That is wise._ _I do not tolerate weakness and dissent in my ranks. You will build your forces and strike when I tell you._

"But the Guardians…" Pitch spoke. "I can attack them, harass them at least. Make them weak…"

 _You will keep Bunnymund under watch. I will not have you lose another Guardian._ Pitch felt indignant. _Soon the Four will be ready. The Guardians do not know that their final doom draws near._

Pitch's breath caught. He had made Bunnymund tell Jack. "Right, about the Guardians not noticing…"

A silent rage filled Pitch's head, and he quailed ever so slightly. In the end, however, he only understood: _They can do nothing. No matter their efforts, the Four will bow to me ._

The darkness cleared. Pitch sighed, and placed the snowglobe back down.

He wandered through the tunnels of the Warren, still contemplating Jack's warning. His report had not exactly been comforting, especially after he had to deliver bad news. On the one hand, he was very excited to have a Dark Lord in charge. On the other, he wanted to actually be around to see this Dark Lord...

Pitch ended up walking up to a large cavern, freshly secured with heavy doors. A deep-throated growl came from the other side, and a pair of goblins argued before it.

"You take it in!" The taller one shoved a large hunk of meat, half the size of a man, at his crony. "I fed it yesterday!"

"You liar! You were on forge duty, I saw you!"

"Just do it, _nar thos_."

The shorter orc hissed in offense. "Say that again, I dare you!"

He leaned over. " _Lul gujack-ishi_ …"

With a ear-grating scream, they launched themselves at each other, grappling each other to the ground. A furious scratching came from the other side of the door.

"Enough!" Pitch's voice startled both of them to attention. He couldn't stand the racket these orcs made, but he needed them. "Both of you, go in and feed it!"

He watched as they picked up opposite ends of the meat, still glaring at each other and muttering in their own ugly language. Pitch pulled open the door, revealing an empty shadow. The orcs were wary as they carried the meat inside. They were so wary watching the inside of the cage that they didn't notice Pitch sealing the door shut behind them.

When he finally pushed it closed with a deafening crash, he heard their foul voices crying out inside, throwing all manner of insults and curses at him. Then the howls. And the tearing. And the screams. He began to chuckle at their demises.

He had his army. He had Sauron's weapons. If he had to, he could make do against Sauron. Of course, he still needed one thing to really make sure he kept Sauron in check.

The Ring.

He laughed harder as he saw himself, wielding the Ring, being Sauron's equal. The sound of ripping flesh and delighted roars mingled with his hideous cackling, and Pitch clutched his sides, sinking to the floor.

He would have it. It would be his.

On the other side of the door, the beast finished its meal.

* * *

Jack sunk into his armchair, clutching the soft fabric arm to reaffirm his safety. His staff rested across his lap.

"Poor Bunny…" North shook his head slowly. "I thought he had been coming around less, but I thought he was just getting so caught up in Easter."

"And now these guys, we finally found them," Jack jerked his head towards the other room, where the others were still conversing. He was silent for a long time. "What do we do with them?"

North also sat, folding in his hands in his lap and staring down at them. His voice was grim. "I suppose, if it comes down to saving the children…" He rested his fingers on the hilt of one of his swords.

Jack and the Sandman both stared at each other, as if waiting from some confirmation from the other. Then Jack furrowed his brow and stood his staff up on the ground.

"No." North looked up at him. "At least, not yet. I mean, I met the one, Hiccup, and he seems just fine to me. Look, we can split it up. You can keep an eye on them here, keep them here and out of trouble, while Sandy and I can put together another army and face Pitch-"

The Sandman cocked his head to the side as he thought it over, apparently reaching a negative conclusion, while North spoke, "Jack, that won't work. If we are going to face Pitch, especially if he's as strong as you say he is, do you really think only two of us can defeat him?"

"Well, we gotta try! We can't just sit around and do nothing-"

"But we cannot rush into things blindly either." North's voice began to grow firm. "Don't you remember what happened last time?"

Jack bit his lip, and looked down. He closed his eyes, he could remember…

"But perhaps you're right," North stood up suddenly; he was clearly trying to backtrack on the conversation. "Maybe they can be of some good, or at least of no evil."

"I…" Jack swallowed, trying to overcome his emotion. "I'm sure too." He felt a light pat on his shoulder, and the Sandman's kind face beckoned him to stand.

"You are right in saying we have to meet Pitch and Sauron. Our first problem is figuring out how. Our second problem is figuring out what to do," he lowered his voice, "with the Ring."

The Sandman raised his hand and pointed above his head. Golden sand shifted into a ring, being dropped into an ocean.

"I don't know, it might not be enough…" North ran his fingers around his beard. "Who knows what kinds of sea creatures Sauron might have? We can't keep it here, either-"

"Let's ask them."

Jack saw the two of them turn around in surprise. "Ask who?"

"You know," he shifted uncomfortably, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder to the other room.

North stared at him like he'd gone mad. "But the curse! I understand keeping an eye on them, but tempting them with the Ring? It would be like handing it over in gift-wrapped box!"

"I'm not saying give it to one of them. But they have a right to help decide. The Ring affects them too, even more than it does us. I don't think they even all know what's going on." He saw North's face soften in consideration. "The least we can do is tell them the truth, the whole truth."

North's eyebrows raised. "The whole truth, Jack?"

His breath caught for a moment. "Yes, the whole truth."

North glanced at the Sandman, then back. "Alright." He led the way, pushing the door open. The conversations died as the three of them entered.

"So, uh," Jack leaned his staff against his shoulder. "I'm sure you're all wondering what's going on, some more than others." All eyes followed him as he walked around. "And the answer is, a lot of stuff." He looked around. "How many of you received rings, again?"

Hiccup, Rapunzel, Merida, and Elsa raised their hands. Jack felt a knot in his stomach as he realized what he was looking at.

"Okay, some of you have heard this before, but just bear with me for those who haven't." And with that, he retold the story of Sauron's deception, the war that tore the world apart, and the gravity of the Ring of Power.

Elsa was the first to interrupt. "So he was going to use his Ring to control us? Through our own rings?"

"That's right. Sauron wanted you to be instruments in his plan."

"Why us though?" Hiccup spoke this time. "And why was the Ring on Berk?"

"I don't know the second part of your question. But I can tell you the first part, and...it may be hard for you to hear." He waited for an objection, received none, and stood up. "Many centuries ago, I was trying to track down a lesser ring - many imitations of the Great Rings have been made, and while they're weaker, they cause a lot of trouble on their own, since the One still controls them. Anyways, I was trying to track one down to destroy it, when I found a strange cottage in the Great Forest, and a witch inside."

He noticed Merida lean forward at this detail, and continued.

"I ended up talking to her, and she told me a story about a prince who had traded her a signet ring for a powerful potion. The ring had already corrupted him, but she did the trade and then destroyed it - by the time I saw it, it was powerless. But before I left, she told me something else…"

By now he had walked to another side of the room, where a mural covered the wall. No one had paid particular attention to it before, but now they realized it depicted something like a battle. Near the ceiling were four figures, three of which they recognized as North, Jack, and the Sandman; the last was a rabbit. Above their heads the moon rose and looked down. On the bottom, a hideous eye was framed in fire and lightning, and tied to it were four other figures: a cruel-looking man with a dragon on his shoulder; another man, wielding spikes of ice in his hand; a third, his face fair and yet terrible; and the last sickly green, caressing a glass ball.

"She created a prophecy that describes the rise of four powerful individuals, shaped by Sauron's will, who would have powers of their own to match ours. Four people who would help him finally conquer the world. I still remember the words she told me:

 _When the Black Land again is in shadows_

 _and the Nine ride forth from their tow'r_

 _The Four shall be raised 'bove the kingdoms_

 _and chained to the Cursed Ring of Pow'r_

 _The serpents of fire shall mark one_

 _who will cover the lands in flame._

 _One to be born in the North_

 _by winter and ice shall be claimed._

 _Life's gift will be held by another;_

 _of stolen sunlight she'll be wrought._

 _The woodland shall bring forth a warrior_

 _who sees those who cannot be fought_

 _When four come, their thrones shall be readied_

 _and the world shall see bloodshed and steel_

 _The struggle with darkness will close then;_

 _The Ring's final end shall be sealed_

"Since then we've been on the lookout for the Four, anywhere we saw signs of disturbance. Elsa, you were an easy find." Jack twirled his finger, conjuring a snowflake in the air. She gasped and put her hands over her mouth. "We have the same magic flowing in us, I could feel you." He smirked. "Not to mention you caused a snowstorm in the middle of summer, and nearly got me in trouble with these guys."

"Last summer?" Merida perked up. "I thought it got a wee bit cold around midsummer…" She looked around; she had started rubbing her arms nervously.

"L-Look," Hiccup got up. "Jack, it sounds like you're saying Sauron created us, but we're just normal people!"

"Normal people?"

"Yeah!"

Jack looked him over. "How many people rode a dragon before you did?"

"I-I, er, no one, I guess, but that doesn't mean anything!" But Jack had already turned to Merida.

"Do you ever see things that no one else can?"

"No," she shook her head, making her curls bounce. "I mean, just a couple of will o' the wisps, but only a few times in my whole life!"

" _The woodland shall bring forth a warrior who sees those who cannot be fought"_ , Jack repeated. "Rapunzel's healing hair was a result from a drop from the sun, stolen by Sauron in the hopes that it would corrupt someone."

"Mother Gothel…" She nervously fiddled with her hair. King Robin stood up now.

"That's enough!" He barked. "My daughter's already been through enough strife to last her a lifetime. I won't have you scaring her with fairy tales and poems and reminding her about the people who've hurt her!"

"I'm fine!" She insisted back. "It's a lot to take in, but I _can_ take it!"

"Elsa?" Anna's voice came through. "Elsa, are you okay?"

The queen was slumped over, pressing her hand against her face like she was trying to hide herself.

"I was made...to hurt people…" She looked like she was going to be sick. A small flurry of snow began to swirl above her head.

"Uh no, no, Elsa, look at me." Anna knelt down to look into her eyes. "You're my sister, and I know that you would never hurt anyone. Sauron isn't going to make you do anything, because we're going to do something about it." She nodded at Jack, North, and the Sandman. "Right, we're going to do something about it?"

North sighed. "Anything we choose to do will revolve around this:" He pulled out the Ring, still suspended from its chain. With cautious fingers he laid it on the center table for everyone to see. "Sauron is tied to this Ring, and so are the Four. The Ring tempts everyone, but the Four especially will be drawn to its power."

There was silence as everyone stared. Merida broke it: "You say this Ring is very powerful?"

"Well, it is called the Ring of Power…"

"Why don't we use it?"

"NO!" Jack catapulted from his seat. "None of us can use it!"

"Not to keep!" Merida was visibly astonished and slightly offended by his outburst. "But if we can turn it against him, we could-"

"No, no!" He shook his head fervently. "We can't!"

"Well why not?"

Jack took a deep breath in. He looked at North, then back.

 _The whole truth…_

"I know...because I've tried."

He could feel them shift in their seats, and he squeezed his eyes shut in shame.

"There used to be a fifth Guardian, the Guardian of Memories, Toothiana. I tried to use the Ring...and because of that...she's dead."


	12. An Age-Cycle Ago

"Phil, look out!"

The yeti ducked, barely missing a swing from a nearby orc's ax. Jack darted around and with a swipe of his staff froze the fiend where he stood. Phil mumbled his thanks.

"Don't thank me yet," Jack didn't look at him, instead scanning the field. Soot stained the ground they stood on, and the sky above choked with ash, a sharp tower lifting its head to stab at the swirling clouds. Its base was wider than an entire village, and far beyond this fortress a distant volcano spewed its fire to the sky, providing the only light for the grisly scene.

Everywhere Jack could see, a savage war raged. The battle lines had long since blurred, and both sides grappled with each other. Humans wielded whatever weapons they could against the horde of orcs and dragons; firearms had long since run out of ammunition, and so pikes and swords and arrows were the popular options. Joining the men were yetis, massive stone egg golems, miniature fairies, and an assortment of golden creatures composed by the Sandman himself. It was a scene that no one had envisioned, and yet here it was. Screams and yells and hideous cries sounded in an orchestra of chaos, imbued with an unending motion and a horrific stench.

Jack took off into the air and zoomed around, dodging the crossbow bolts fired at him, before diving into a pocket of orcs. He twirled his staff above his head and slammed its end into the ground. Within seconds, he was surrounded by a collection of frozen statues. Stepping out of the circle, he saw an angry stone egg golem charging past him, and a group of foes fleeing from it.

"Haha, get 'em!" Bunnymund followed after, tossing his boomerangs and snatching them back without missing a step. He gave them another hurl before pausing in front of Jack, grinning as the eggs kept advancing. "Fit as a Mallee bull, they are!" He glanced over the top of Jack's head. "You may wanna-"

But Jack already got the cue and crouched as the boomerangs zoomed into Bunny's grasp.

"Keep at 'em, mate!" With a little salute, he tapped his foot and disappeared down a long tunnel. Jack whisked around and reentered the fray, deflecting blows and dealing a few of his own out. He heard a snarl behind him. Turning, he was just in time to see a Night Fury pounce atop him. The pupils were little wider than pencil lines as Jack caught its jaws with his staff, tumbled around, and drove his staff against its heart, freezing it solid. Suddenly he heard whizzing above his head.

"Tooth!" He gestured for her to follow him up, and they both climbed high to avoid the onslaught of arrows. "What did you find?"

"He's in there," Toothiana gasped. "We've got him cornered in there!" Her face was a strange mix of relief, joy, and terror. "Poor Baby…"

"Baby Tooth?" Jack's heart skipped a beat.

"No, she'll be okay, I just have to take care of her." She held out her clasped hands and exposed the miniature fairy, alive but trembling, her eyes wide. "She got a bit too close, saw too much…"

Jack breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, we'll take care of you," he gently stroked Baby Tooth, then out of the corner of his eye saw a Monstrous Nightmare flying at them. With a swipe of his staff the beast's wings were frozen, sending it plummeting. "As soon as we get done here," he added.

"Wait," Toothiana was staring past her hands at the ground. "Look!"

Jack followed her gaze and saw the horde beginning to dissipate. The orcs were fleeing beyond the tower into the east, and the dragons landing before the door. His heart began to swell with cautious optimism. Was this it?

He dived to the ground and joined North and Sandy, who were meeting up with each other in the lull. The men were cheering, waving their weapons in the air as they marched to the doors of the tower. "Show yourself," they shouted angrily at the fortress, "show yourself you coward! Face us!"

Jack looked at North's face, then the Sandman's. Neither of them were celebrating. "Get ready," North whispered, and he held his two swords up.

The tower groaned, then clicked ominously.

The gates of Barad-dûr swung open.

The men paused, their voices mute in their throats, as a shadow stepped out.

Jack, North, and Sandy pressed forward with the golems by their side, while the men began to shuffle back in fear. The figure advanced slowly, a great mace in his hands, and the dragons framed his approach, their pupils virtually invisible as they turned to face their master. Terror enflamed Jack's mind, the rest of the world disintegrating from his memory...

Jack took a deep breath, brandishing his staff despite his fear. Silver-tongued Annatar, who had greeted them years ago, had vanished, and now Sauron stood there, seeming to loom over them, every bit of his being exuding a burning rage.

On his hand, a band of blinding light wrapped around one of his fingers. His other hand now raised the mace…

"Go!" Bunny yelled.

A golem charged at Sauron, and with a single blow had its top half shattered. It toppled over, lifeless. A group of yetis charged next, and they were struck down just as easily. Jack shot a bolt of frost, only to have it rebounded at himself. It struck him in the gut and he doubled over, barely escaping a strike that felled another golem instead. Straightening back up, Jack clenched his eyes shut, and he demanded his fear to subside. He remembered the others, the army that stood behind him, North, Bunny, Sandy, Tooth.

Tooth...Baby Tooth…

With a snarl of rage he hurled himself forward, determined to turn Sauron into a block of ice. But the mace was too quick, and he felt a blow on his ribs send him flying against one of the nearby turrets.

"Jack!" He heard the cry from far away, through the throbbing in his ears. North came up to him. "Jack, speak to me!"

Jack looked up at him, then over at the duel. Sauron was grabbing one of the yetis who had fallen, his hand still glaring with the Ring.

"Jack, please, say something."

He glanced back at North. "Distract him."

Despite the pain that stabbed at him, he felt some force willing him to stand. He watched as Sauron grasped the face of one of the yetis, the sheer heat causing the creature to burn and disintegrate. "How dare you?!" North bellowed, and he rushed. Jack stooped and took a crude blade from a fallen orc as North swung his swords, and was promptly disarmed.

Jack didn't feel what he was doing, time seemed to blur. North yelled something, Sauron raised his weapon, swinging his other hand to the side. That's when Jack took his chance. He grabbed Sauron's arm, the heat burning his palm, raised the knife. A gap in the armor, all he needed. The point drove into Sauron's finger. A hateful howling scream, a flash of light, Jack being tossed away, skidding across the stony ground.

And he was gone.

Jack looked around wildly, but Sauron could not be seen. He had vanished. Jack got to his feet and winced, clutching his side. The full extent of his injuries was starting to settle in. Gasping in pain, he uncurled his fist.

The Ring lay in his palm, the remnants of Sauron's finger crumbling into ashes and blowing into the wind. Jack held it up as everyone gathered to him.

"You've got it…" Toothiana whispered as she descended in front of him. "Jack, you got it!"

A long silence, before Bunnymund expressed the thought on everyone's mind.

"So what do we do with it?"

Jack stared at the Ring. "Sauron used it for evil," he closed his fingers over it, "I say we use it to undo that evil."

"What do you mean?" Toothiana hovered closer.

"Look, we can take turns with it or something. We can put more wonder and hope and fun in the world if we use this, I know it!"

"Nuh uh, mate," Bunny backed away, "I ain't touchin' that thing."

"Jack," North spoke up, "I don't know if this is good idea?"

Jack paused, interrogating the little voice in his mind. It was so insistent, patient yet urging, a sweet voice to listen to. The Guardians could rebuild the world, heal the wounds of the war, and bring joy back to the people of the world. They would be heroes - especially himself, for having the idea in the first place.

"No, I'm sure of it. Here, you and Bunny work one night a year, so you get the Ring then-"

"Jack, I'm not doing this, I told you!"

"Fine. North, you'll get it on your holiday. Then Sandy, Tooth and I will take it in turns the rest of the year, right?"

The Guardians all showed various degrees of skepticism. North ran his fingers over his mustache as he stared at Jack's hand.

"Very well, if you think it's a good idea, we'll try it."

* * *

Two days later, Jack and Toothiana spoke to a large village of people.

"Is everyone inside the boundaries of the village?" Toothiana asked for the tenth time. There was a general murmur of affirmation as everyone pressed closer to the center. "Jack, you're ready?"

"Yeah. Okay, listen everyone, one more time, just to make sure I got this. Gates on the north and south, right?"

A man raised his hand in dissent. "North and east, the goblins always come from the southwest."

"Right, right, that's why I ask." Jack smiled and nodded, as he toyed around with the Ring in his hoodie pocket. "Well, one ice wall coming up." He floated into the air with Toothiana, hovering over the village. "Okay, ready?" He pulled out the Ring, and began to slip it on his finger.

"Jack." She stopped him. "...are you sure?"

"I'm positive," he reassured her. "Look, all I'm doing is building a wall. It'll be fine." He put on the Ring, and the world changed.

Looking down, Jack could still see the village, but it was hazy and unclear. He could suddenly hear their voices, though, articulate despite the distance; he could have sworn he even heard their heartbeats. His mind became sharp and clear, and he extended his staff.

With an extremely steady hand he traced a border around the village. On the ground, trees began to tumble and fall as massive spikes of ice began to sprout out of the soil and merge with each other.

Jack could hardly believe it. He'd never been able to do anything on this scale before! On a whim he soared over the town, flying along the wall as it took shape. With a poke and a flick, he carved massive turrets into the ice, which grew taller and taller. He was dimly aware of Toothiana zipping behind him.

He laughed; the experience was too much! All he could do now, the opportunities, the chances! He darted back over the village, circling over a ruined house. With a thrust of his staff, he willed into being a grand cottage, sculpted white and cold, pushing the wood and brick to the side.

"Oh, this is so cool!" Jack laughed again, flying over the streets, covering the pock-marked cobblestone with frost. "Tooth, Tooth!" He looked around and saw her hovering in mid-air, staring at everything going on. "Tooth, I can build them a whole new town! I can make new towns all over the place, it'd be fantastic. And, and," his mind was running with ideas, "I can get my own place! Like Bunny has the Warren, you have your castle, I can build my own castle, palace...thing. Oh, I told you this was a good idea!" He glanced down at the Ring with affection.

"Jack, Jack, slow down," her face looked apprehensive. "Maybe you should take it off for now."

"Are you kidding, this is great! I could," another idea barged into his mind, and he gasped, "I could make my own helpers. You have the other fairies, North has his yetis and elves. I could build snowmen, or something, and-"

"Jack, take it off. Please."

"Why? I thought you wanted to help them?"

"Jack, let me have it."

He clenched his staff and demanded again, "Why?"

"Take it off, please."

"What? I'm just doing what I can to help! Don't I get a little recognition for that?" He felt himself getting angry, surprising even himself. "If you don't appreciate that, then stay out of my way."

"Jack-"

"I have a world to rebuild!"

"Look, you said we would take turns, let me have my turn." But her desperate tone gave away her deception.

"You want it to keep, don't you? I won't let you have it, it's mine! I'm the one who took it, I can keep it!"

"No!" She seized his wrist, and he tried to wrench it away. "Listen to yourself, take it off!"

"Let go of me!" Down below, Jack could hear the humans looking up, murmuring in fear and awe as the Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost grappled hundreds of feet up in the air.

"Just take it off!"

"Never!" With a snarl, he swung his staff, hitting her in the back. Her wings crackled as they froze, and with a cry she fell to the ground.

Jack took a few seconds to reorient himself, rubbing his wrist where she had grabbed him. He glanced around. She wasn't there. Then he looked down at the blurred ground, and the forest around the village. Toothiana couldn't be seen beneath the tree cover. A sick revulsion rose in Jack.

"No…"

With a new terror condensing in his mind he scrambled to pry the Ring from his finger. His vision and hearing returned to normal.

"No no no, Tooth!" Shoving the Ring into his pocket, he zoomed over the village. "Tooth, where are you?! Please," he landed breathless in front of a pair of people. "Where'd Tooth land, please!"

But they just recoiled from him, their faces fearful. They had seen what he'd done.

"No, please, you don't understand! It was...Tooth!" He looked all around in panic, darting into and out of buildings and alleyways before circling around the trees. "Tooth, please!"

Finally he popped over a large log, and found her. She was leaning against a tree trunk, her wings bent and folded and frostbitten. Her eyes did not open.

"No, no please, Tooth…" Jack looked at his hands, and squeezed his eyes shut. "Oh, what have I done?!" His sorrow boiled into hatred, and he reached for the Ring, to curse it and damn it and despise its very existence. He would throw it away and make sure it would never see the sunlit sky again.

But it was gone.

His panic returned, and he patted his pocket, then his other, then his pants. "Oh no, no no no no no!" He turned around and glanced through the forest, the village peeking though just beyond. With all of his flying, the Ring might have fallen out anywhere.

Jack looked down at Toothiana again, and thought about the Ring, lying hidden in a clump of grass or pit of mud or wedged between some rocks where it couldn't be found. He sank to his knees, clenching his hands, crying out with a long inarticulate scream.

Faded blue between the branches, the waning moon stared back at him.

* * *

Everyone was silent as Jack finished his story. He wiped a few tears from his eyes before speaking.

"We never found it again, until now. And I've spent the centuries thinking over what I've done. That's why we can't use the Ring," he choked out. "The only one who can control it is Sauron." Jack gave another sniff, nodding gently. "I don't know yet how it got to Berk, and we may never know. The important thing is we found it again, and we have to ask again: what do we do with the Ring now?"


	13. The Doom of the Ring

There was a long silence as Jack's question lingered in the air. Astrid couldn't think of what to say, but King Robin ventured to speak first. "So we have to decide how to use an item, that we can't use?"

Hiccup answered, "I'm just guessing, here, but if no one can use the Ring, then we have to make sure no one finds it."

Robin nodded, but did not answer, like he was irritated at having to acknowledge the Viking. "The Royal Treasury at Corona. It's the most secure place I can think of, and you have my word that-"

"Excuse me," Elsa stared at him. "I don't see why you should keep it."

"And do you believe you're a better candidate?"

"Maybe," Hiccup interfered to prevent further conflict, "since we live on an island on the other side of the world, we could guard it?"

Robin seemed outright offended at this prospect, and Merida blurted out, "What about if you get raided, and they take it? I know that DunBroch could guard the Ring, and with the other clans we will have an unbeatable wall around it!"

"Please," Elsa was visible trying to stay calm, "Arendelle has a very strong navy, and we can defend better than you can-"

"Aha!" Robin pointed. "You HAVE been militarizing!"

"Father, don't!" Rapunzel got up and forced his finger down. "Not right now."

"I don't think we should trust either of these people," Merida gestured at Elsa and Robin. "Especially him," she pointed at the king, "all he's been doing is talking down to us the whole time! Hiccup, Astrid?"

Astrid narrowed her eyes. She had felt some condescension from the king, but she felt another issue at hand. "Yeah, we get that a lot, Viking name precedes us. But why should we trust _you_?" She saw Merida's face turn thunderous. "You stole the Ring from us a couple of days ago, what if you do it again?"

Hiccup quickly caught on. "Ah, what we're trying to say is-"

"I understand completely what you're trying to say!" Merida jabbed her finger at the Ring. "You want it! Going to use it to fight off the Berserkers, and then move on from there?"

Astrid saw Jack move to quell their argument, but she didn't care. Yet she didn't have time to retort before Elsa spoke:

"I personally don't feel comfortable with either of your peoples taking it. I don't know enough about your kingdoms to have confidence in trusting them with this very important task."

Jack and North both tried to interfere nearly simultaneously; their words were drowned by Robin speaking again, "I still insist that Corona be placed in stewardship of the Ring. If we are to speak on confidence and comfort-"

"Father, stop it!" Rapunzel blurted out.

"No, I'll say it, I'll say it here for everyone to hear:" He stood and pointed at Elsa and Anna. "To leave the Ring in Arendelle's hands will be a grave error. After the Enchanted Winter, we have seen proof-"

"It was an accident!" Elsa grew tired of explaining this to people, and she began to feel her emotions bubbling.

"You nearly killed my daughter! After we just got her back after almost two decades!" Robin's voice was mingled with both fury and grief. "You almost froze her, you...witch!"

His words sparked the room into explosion.

Anna leapt out of her chair and began berating the king for his stupidity and ignorance, while Elsa's face was thunderous and offended. Rapunzel was still trying to convince her father to calm down. Their images reflected in the Ring's golden edge, their faces and limbs distorted and colored. Around its other side, Hiccup was shouting at Jack, North, and the Sandman, pointing at Robin and Anna's argument and yelling about "politics, they'll be convinced to use it". Behind him, Astrid and Merida were seconds away from pulling their bow and axe against each other. Then their reflections swiveled around again to the Ring's other edge again, confronting Elsa and Robin - one of the monarchs had hurled the word "savage" against them both, and they were determined to find out which. The elves could be seen scampering out the door to escape the chaos, while the dragons circled close behind their riders, snarling at whomever they were arguing with. Skewed figures tinged with gold, at each other's throats, circled around the Ring's edge.

Finally over the cacophony, a voice could be heard:

"Enough!"

The yelling continued. The voice came again, deafening this time:

"ENOUGH!"

The harsh tone of North's command caused everyone to pause. Astrid had been waving her axe under Merida's chin, Merida had been slowly nocking her arrow, and Elsa's clenched fists were covered in frost.

"All of you, not another word!" He had pulled out his swords, and pointed them around. The Sandman pantomimed zipping his mouth shut, and crossed his arms in annoyance.

Jack stood, shaking his head at them all. "Don't you guys see what you're doing? You're walking into the same trap I did. You don't _want_ to have this - and if you do, then it's too late." Astrid realized what he meant, and a dull shame fell smoldering onto her. "What just happened in here? That's what Sauron wants. And if we do that for him, if we can't cooperate...he won't need to get the Ring to defeat us. It's already destroying us right now."

The small gold band sat on the table, drawing everyone to it. Even Jack's gaze rested a little too long on it.

"Hiding it isn't enough," he clenched his jaw and looked around again. "Even if we hide it for ten thousand years, Sauron will still build his power. He can wait." He glowered at the Ring. "We have to destroy it once and for all."

Nobody moved. Everyone stared. Finally, Hiccup motioned to Toothless.

"Here, bud," he pointed. "Can you give us the hottest flame you can for a few minutes?"

"It won't work." North's words made the Night Fury pause.

"Hiccup, remember?" Jack nodded. "Back on Berk, you had Toothless give us a flame for a few minutes? It didn't do anything."

"It was a low one." He motioned again to Toothless. "Here, let's see, right here, melt it down!"

Astrid watched the dragon hunch over the table, spewing bright violet plasma onto the table. Within two minutes, the Night Fury had burned a hole right through, and the Ring fell to the ground.

"Ah!" Hiccup looked embarrassed at having ruined a piece of furniture. He looked over to see North's patient, yet sharp face. "Uh, Astrid? Nadders have a hotter fire-"

"Pick it up," Jack said. Hiccup did so. "How does it feel?"

Hiccup considered it in his palm. "...not any hotter."

"No dragon's fire can do the job," North spoke. "At least, the job you wanted to get done." He cast another glare at his table, which still had a few tiny tongues of flame. "At the same time, no weapon can scratch it. Only one forge is hot enough to melt the Ring..."

"Orodruin," Rapunzel whispered. "The Mountain of Fire."

Everyone stared at her. She caught their stares and quickly explained.

"I've been to the Ash Mountains, they're just south of Corona. Just behind them is a volcanic plain, and the volcano is supposed to have the hottest fire in the world."

"That's right," Jack nodded. "Corona is just north of Mordor..." He pondered something, but finally shook his head.

"What, what?" Hiccup insisted.

"It won't work. If someone could take the Ring to Orodruin, that's the place where it was made; that's the only place it can be destroyed. But we can't fly in - there are ballistas, archers, and Sauron himself. By now he'll have built his tower again, and he'll see us coming."

"What about the globes?" Merida asked, motioning to North. "When you saved us, you had a globe in your coat, and you opened this hole in the sky, and-"

"The snowglobes can't help us," North replied. "Sauron has one of his own, and he can see if we use ours, where we go, especially if we travel all the way to Mordor." He stroked his beard. "We could fly to the edge of his land, and then enter on foot. But who?"

No one spoke for a long moment. Astrid bit her lip, thinking hard to herself. None of the Four could take the Ring, they'd fall for it. The Guardians couldn't take it either. She willed herself to stand.

"Astrid?" Hiccup's voice squeaked. "Astrid, no."

"I will take it," she declared.

"Please understand," Jack motioned for her to hold on, "it's a terrible journey. On top of goblins, Mordor itself is a waste. Unbearable heat, smoke and ash everywhere. No water, no plant life for miles on end."

The images conjured in Astrid's head, but she took a deep breath. "Someone has to."

"But only one person?" Elsa stepped forward. "If you failed, what would happen then?"

"Someone one would have to take it up." Anna stepped past Elsa. "Someone like me."

"Wait, what? No, Anna, it's too dangerous, you can't!"

"You said it yourself, she shouldn't be alone, and I think I'm the only other person who isn't cursed or magical. Astrid," Anna held out her hand, "can I join you?"

Astrid was surprised, but cautiously accepted the handshake. "The three of us, then?"

"Three?"

Astrid gestured to Stormfly.

"Oh, right!"

"Uh, five." Hiccup broke in. "You're not going anywhere without me. And I really think that I should take the Ring."

"No, you have an evil poem that says you can't." Astrid pushed him away. "Not to mention you've already been spending too much time with it."

"Look, you never leave my side, and I can't leave yours. Toothless and I are in, and I want to carry it."

"Hiccup," Jack spoke carefully. "Can I talk to you in the other room?"

Hiccup glanced at Astrid. She jerked her head to say "Go on", and he left the room. As the door closed behind them, discussion had already resumed.

"If he ends up going," Elsa started, "I don't go anywhere without my sister."

"Look," North rubbed his temples, "first we have to decide if it's even good idea for the Four to-"

"If they go, I am too!" Merida took her bow in hand. "The fate of my kingdom is tied to this thing; I deserve to make sure it's dealt with."

"Me too," Rapunzel spoke.

"No!" Robin insisted. "Rapunzel, I won't have you running off to get yourself killed!"

"I can fend for myself. Don't forget the stories I told you about the frying pan, they were true too."

"Rapunzel-"

"The Ring affects me too! Didn't you hear the prophecy? ' _Chained to the Cursed Ring of Pow'r'._ Even if I didn't go, I couldn't be free. I deserve to make sure I get my freedom!"

Robin stared at her with a pained expression, his mouth struggling for words. "I...I just don't want…" Finally he pursed his lips and nodded. "Very well. If you so choose…"

North stared at the group.

"I can't tell you enough how dangerous this is," he whispered. "Are you sure you're all up for it?"

Different degrees of consent came to him, but everyone did give a positive response.

North looked at the door. "As soon as Jack and Hiccup come back-"

At that very moment, the doors swung open, and Jack came in, resting his consoling hand on Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup's face had turned pale, and he seemed slightly sick.

"Hiccup?" Astrid started forward, but he gestured he was fine, albeit with a shaky hand.

"Y-you, and Anna…" he gulped. "You and Anna have to carry the Ring." He shielded his eyes from it as he came close. "I'll go with you, but...I won't take it. You two, have to. If you want to," he added quickly.

"And I'm coming with you," Jack added. He turned to North and the Sandman specifically. "We need a Guardian with them, and Sandy's busy, and, well…" He nodded, "...maybe this is my chance to make things right?"

North and Sandy nodded slowly. "If that what you want," North said, "then perhaps it's for the best."

"So," Jack turned around again. "I heard talking in here. Who else decided to jump on? Who's going, let me see." Six hands raised into the air.

Astrid looked around at the group. Two Vikings and their dragons, a queen and three princesses, and a winter spirit...she couldn't believe her eyes. Then she looked down. With a rush of excitement and dread she picked the Ring from the table, holding it by its chain.

"Nine of us," she mused aloud, "to face the Nine Riders."

Astrid sighed, and slipped the chain around her neck. The Ring was heavy, and it bore down on her. But now a fire lit in her heart, and she refused to fall under its burden.

"So when do we leave?"


	14. Opening Moves

"Come on!" Pitch spat as he motioned Bunnymund forward. Since Jack's escape, he kept the rabbit near him at all times. Bunnymund gave him a hard stare, but Pitch saw no rebellion in his eyes. He turned forward again and addressed the orc captain, a pale creature with sickly white skin. "Is everyone here?"

"Sixty-six troops!" He answered in a crude voice that sounded like an animal being strangled.

"Good," Pitch sneered as he looked down.

They stood on a large stone, which had been dragged from its resting place and overturned to parody a lectern. From it, Pitch could behold his small army as they prepared to depart. Helmets were clapped onto heads, armor was mounted onto bodies, long steel blades were shoved into hands. A ruckus of hissing and snarls arose from the mass, and the stench was offensive even to himself.

"Alright, listen up!" He shouted to be heard, and the army looked up at him. "We're running a very special mission today. In the Guardians' workshop, they're planning their next move. What we are going to do, is choke them out and make sure they can't so much as set a toe outside their doors! I want you to go into the mountains, and kill anything that you see!"

The orcs cheered the moment they heard the command "Kill". Pitch took the captain by the shoulder and glared into his eyes.

"Listen closely. Someone in the workshop has something very important, and I want you to bring it to me. Any bodies that you kill, I want brought to me _unspoiled_. Even the jewelry, I want brought to me. Do you understand?"

The captain nodded gruffly, but Pitch did not relent his grip.

"I will be sending some help with you. My Nightmares will keep an eye from above, and I'm also going to send... _it_."

"My lord, that is not necessary." The captain acted like the reinforcements were insulting; however, Pitch could smell the fear.

"We cannot afford to make mistakes. It is going with you, and I advise you to stay out of its way."

The goblin grumbled, but answered, "Very well."

With that, Pitch turned back to the other orcs, and pointed his finger at the adjacent stone wall. The shadows upon it darkened and bled into black.

"Go, hunt them down! And once I get what is mine, you will be free to have your fill of flesh! Go!"

The army charged into the darkness, and instead of running into a wall passed through the corridor that the shadow had made. With a flourish from his arms, Pitch also sent through at least thirty Nightmares, prancing through the air. Which only left...it.

"Open the doors!" he shouted. Taking Bunnymund by the scruff of his neck, Pitch dragged him to the side while yelling down the tunnel. "Go on then!"

Bunny squeezed his eyes shut, hardly daring to crack them open. A hideous scream came from behind him, a howling roar. The ground shook as a great beast came charging down the halls, scattering goblins in its path, hopefully not noticing him...he felt a chill as it rushed past and hurtled into the shadow. When Bunny dared to open his eyes again, all he saw was a grey blur racing away.

"I think that went rather well, don't you Aster?" Pitch chuckled as he led him away. Fires scorched the Warren more and more. The clamor of steelwork and breeding assaulted the ears, and the foul stench of both poisoned the air.

* * *

Jack sat cross-legged on the stone sill, the window open before him. His hands rested on his knees.

The light of the moon shone through his closed eyelids. Meaning entered his mind without words.

As he allowed his mind to drift, Jack could see shadows playing, conspiring, merging and growing. A fear, that the shadows were not external.

 _Am I doing the right thing?_ He opened his eyes. seeing the opal in the obsidian. _Please, I have to know._

He closed his eyes again. Silver, smoky lines twisted together. Toothiana's face appeared before him. Jack squeezed his eyes tighter.

A shiver ran down his spin, and his chin rose. Bright clear light, with a somber blue touch. An ageless voice reaching to him. He felt a deep yearning. He had to go.

 _But who says?_ He interrogated the voice. _Why?_

A rising within him, floating. Yet the bitter regret weighed down, and he felt almost sick from the burden. It slipped though... he could see only the pale blue light, filling all he could see. Jack breathed in, clear and slow. The weight slipped again.

He slowly nodded, and opened his eyes.

Sliding himself off the windowsill, he looked up at the night sky.

"I won't let you down again."

With that he wandered the halls of the workshop, waiting for the others to wake.

* * *

Hiccup tied another bag to Toothless' saddle. "Still feelin' good?" The dragon snorted and gave a friendly look. "Let's just see what you say when we have two more people on your back…"

The plan had been spelled out already: because of Sauron, any attempt to use the snowglobes to transport near Mordor would give them away. Appearing directly inside Mount Doom was impossible - a shadow had covered the land, and the snowglobes could not reach within it. Their options were to fly and walk, and it was obvious which alternative was better. So now Hiccup was preparing Toothless for the journey, when someone interrupted him.

"Hey." The soft voice made him turn around. Rapunzel was peeking around the corner. "So, you're Hiccup?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "And, uh, you're Rapunzel, right? Princess of…" He sighed and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember.

"Corona."

"That's it, Corona! Corona…"

"I didn't really get to introduce myself yesterday, with everything going on." She gave a slight grin, looking at Toothless. "I like your dragon."

"Oh, Toothless?" Hiccup rubbed the Night Fury's head, and the dragon cuddled up against him. "Yeah, he's really something."

"Wow. We have legends of nests of dragons, to the north across Lake Corona, but I've never seen one. I have a chameleon, Pascal, kind of like a dragon?" She chuckled, then looked away. Hiccup watched her.

"I don't think you came here just to see Toothless," he shook his head.

Rapunzel seemed to struggle for words. "I...I'm sorry for the way my father was acting yesterday. He shouldn't have been calling you savages and all that."

"I've been getting used to it," Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Is that really what people think of us?"

"Well not you specifically!" Rapunzel blurted out. "But, I mean, Vikings, and the people of the forest...there's not a lot of good history. We're just trying to be cautious…"

"Go on." Hiccup went back to trying to pack Toothless.

"No, look, it's not like-" Rapunzel sighed. "My father's been worried about something happening to me. Look, please," Hiccup turned around. "They just want to do what they can to keep me around, and they're scared..."

Hiccup nodded. "Why did you decide to leave, then?"

"I...I don't know, really. I had to, I guess. That prophecy," she shook her head, "it made me feel like I had to."

At that moment there was a knock on the door as King Robin entered. "Rapunzel, are you-" He froze when he spotted Hiccup and Toothless. For a moment he seemed about to address them, but he finally spoke to his daughter. "Rapunzel, please, listen to reason…"

"I have to." She seemed cross; Hiccup supposed the two had been going at this for a while.

"Why do you keep saying that? And don't tell me the prophecy said so! I'll let you go if you feel you have to, but I won't if you can't tell me why!"

Hiccup slowly edged his way behind Toothless, hoping to remove himself from the scene as they shouted. Rapunzel now replied, "You heard it, Father! You heard the prophecy, it said that I was created for evil! I have to prove it wrong!"

"No, I've been thinking it over, and you know what I think of this 'prophecy'? It's nothing more than a glorified poem, spouted by an old woman, that this Jack kid decided to treat like a mantra. You're not bound to anything!"

"Then how do you explain the hair? How do you explain that it all fits me? I don't want to believe it either, but I'm too worried to just set it aside. I have to make sure that I prove those words wrong!"

"Damn those words! You don't _need_ to prove them wrong, they're not true!"

"But the hair-"

"That doesn't prove anything, I didn't do-" He caught his breath, "I…"

Hiccup felt the atmosphere change, and he came around to stare again. Robin had buried his face in his hands.

"I gave your mother the potion with the sun's flower. If you're a slave to Sauron...it's my fault. Oh God, it's my fault." He gave a sob. "Your mother and I didn't get to watch you grow up, and now we're going to lose you again…"

He leaned backwards against the wall.

"Please, don't leave us again."

Looking at him now, Hiccup suddenly realized just how old the king was. His brown hair and beard were lined with grey, and grooves in his face revealed age accented by woe. For all the majesty given by his attire and crown, Robin was weary.

"Sir," Hiccup came forward softly, his metal leg punctuating every other step. King Robin looked up, startled that the man he hadn't acknowledged was speaking to him. "If what Jack and the other Guardians have said is true, then if your daughter stays with you, you still won't have long with her. She's right: the prophecy binds us to the Ring. If you want to spend your life with a servant to Sauron, then have her come home now." Silence. "But if you want Rapunzel, let her free herself. Let her prove the prophecy wrong. And if it makes you more comfortable, we'll be with her. I mean, we have two dragons on our side." He indicated Toothless. "Not to mention we have a Guardian. Can't ask for better protection than that."

Robin looked around, clearly trying to formulate a response. Then he came close, lowering his voice. "Listen close Viking." He took a deep breath, his eyes still glistening. "Can I trust you, your girlfriend, and your dragons with my daughter?"

"I trust-"

Robin put up his hand to cut off Rapunzel. "I want to hear it from him."

"I would never dream of leaving anyone behind," Hiccup stood as tall as he could, and found he had just a few inches over Robin. "You have our word."

"I won't forget it." Robin looked him up and down. "If you come through, I'll remember it. If you don't, I'll remember that as well." He hesitated, then held out his hand. Hiccup grasped it firmly and they shook. Robin stood there for a moment, adjusting his crown, looking a touch awkward. "Very well then. Rapunzel," he stretched for her hand, "are you sure?"

"Yes." Her voice was so strong that Hiccup hoped that Robin would not pursue the matter any matter. Instead, the king gently kissed her brow.

"Be brave," he whispered. "We'll be waiting for you."

* * *

Hours later, Toothless and Stormfly stood outside, a couple inches of snow piled around their feet. Everyone else gathered around them; Rapunzel, Elsa, and Anna had traded their formal wear for brown cloaks and proper outdoor dresses, more able to withstand the long trip ahead. Hiccup, Astrid, and Merida had opted to keep their own wear. The Guardians scanned the skies beside them, with the yetis and elves beside them.

"Okay, Rapunzel and Merida go with Astrid," Hiccup directed. "Anna and Elsa are with me, and Jack's just flying on his own?"

"Right. Okay, everyone?" Jack gestured with his hands. "I'm going to lead the way. We're going to fly southeast over the mountains. Once we reach the foothills we go directly south, then we'll follow the river to the east. Once we're outside Corona we break from the water and head to the Ash Mountains. Any questions?"

No one.

"Let's do this!" Astrid shouted, eager to spur everyone into action. She flipped up the hood on her outfit.

"Got the Ring?" Hiccup shouted as he mounted Toothless.

Astrid reached around her neck and displayed the golden band, suspended from a chain. "If it starts getting to me, I'll let you know so Anna can take over." Behind her, Rapunzel and Merida were climbing onto Stormfly.

Turning around Hiccup helped Elsa and Anna get on the Night Fury's back. "How you feelin' Toothless?"

It was a good deal more weight than he was used to, but Toothless shook his head and looked up with cheer. He was up to the task.

"We're good here, Jack." Hiccup flashed a thumbs up.

"All ready here!" Astrid copied.

Jack let out a breath. "Sandy, North?" He gave them a small salute. "Catch you later."

"Stay safe Jack," North nodded. The Sandman tipped his bowler hat. With that Jack turned to the others.

"Let's go then!"

He rose into the air. Both dragons beat their wings and lifted into the air, following him. The Sandman and Nicholas St. North watched as the three shapes rose over the mountains, heading southeast, before they passed the peaks and could no longer be seen. All nine of them vanished, on the way to Mordor.


	15. Over the Peaks

Jack alighted atop another peak, scanning the valley below. He crouched, squinting to see through the windswept snow. Then he turned and pointed with his staff. "That way!" He leapt into the air again, veering a little more south.

Behind him, the two dragons crested the mountaintops. They held their wings wide and glided down the slope, staying far above the snow-capped stones and the forests below. The wind howled in Rapunzel's face, and she held her hair down to keep it from whipping madly behind her. Merida sat in front of her, looking over the side of the dragon at the ground undulating below, and in front of Merida was Astrid, watching Jack as he darted through the air and guiding Stormfly to follow.

Merida turned around. "Rapunzel!" she shouted to be heard over the deafening tempest. "Can you get me-" the rest of her words were drowned out.

"What?" Rapunzel leaned in closer.

"Bread! Get me a piece of bread from the sack, please!" She pointed to a bag roped near Rapunzel's leg.

"Oh!" Rapunzel reached around and untied it, pulling out a small loaf of rye. "How much?"

"Half o' that," Rapunzel tore off a handful and passed it up. "Thank ye!"

Rapunzel replaced the other half, retying the bag just as the dragon dipped a bit.

"Whoa!" She held on to Merida's shoulders to keep her balance, who in turn grabbed Astrid's shoulders. Astrid looked behind.

"You alright back there?"

"Uh, could you mind maybe taking it a little easier?" Rapunzel asked. "I mean, I've never been on a dragon before…"

"I have, and I'm still getting used to it," Merida added.

"I'll try to give you guys warning next time. Just wanted to get out of the wind."

Sure enough, the wind no longer screamed in their ears. They could actually converse at a normal tone.

"Okay, fair enough. Thank you," Merida replied. She began tearing off pieces of bread and eating them. "At least," she said between bites, "there's more room on Stormfly than on Toothless."

"One of the many benefits of Deadly Nadders." Astrid winked. "Maybe after all this is over, you can try some stunt flying?"

Rapunzel had a brief image of herself, trying to cling onto the dragon's neck as it did who-knew-what in midair. It was at once both terrifying...and exciting.

"Maybe after we get to know each other better?" With a nervous laugh she brushed her hand over the blue scales. Stormfly peeked behind with a squawk.

"Yes, we're talking about you," Astrid soothed the dragon. "Only good things though, I promise."

The chat proceeded fairly idly for a while. Rapunzel ended up claiming the other half of the loaf for herself, then got another piece for Astrid at her request. She noticed, though, that Astrid seemed to grow more and more tense, and tired. Finally Astrid muttered "Hold on," and shouted behind: "Hey! Hiccup, come up here!"

Stormfly beat her wings to hover, and Jack circled back around to watch as Toothless approached. Hiccup's brow crinkled in worry. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing really, just...tagging out, I guess. Anna?" She pulled the chain over the top of her head, and offered the Ring.

Wordlessly Anna stretched out her hand. Astrid brought Stormfly just a few inches closer, leaning out to reach. Finally Anna wrapped her fingers around the Ring, and fumbled the chain around her own neck.

"Let me know when you need a break," Astrid nodded. She let them pass ahead, then followed at the rear.

Rapunzel noticed that after the exchange, Astrid brightened up again. They returned to exchanging stories.

"-and then," Astrid bit her lip, trying not to laugh too early, "the twins declared Hiccup as 'stable boy'!"

"What?!" Rapunzel laughed. "Stable boy?"

"Yeah, mention it to him, he'd _love_ to talk about it." Astrid chuckled. "As for me, I got Royal Brush Cleaner. Put up with it for ten minutes, then I got sent to the dungeon for backtalking."

"I'm surprised you went that long," Rapunzel grinned.

"You should see back home," Merida added, "I have three younger brothers, all triplets. And let's just say...I think they'd get along with Ruffnut and Tuffnut."

"Triplets," Astrid stared into space. "A third Thorston…" She shuddered. "I don't think Berk could survive…"

Merida laughed. "Yeah, at least my brothers can't get their hands on any dragons…"

Rapunzel had tuned out though. She was staring at the sky to the right. A flock of large blackbirds seemed to be in the distance - except these were larger, and had a very odd shape. She interrupted just as Astrid was replying to Merida. "Hey, do you see that?"

All three of them leaned over and squinted, trying to make out the shapes. "Doesn't look like anything I've seen before," Merida muttered.

"Hey!" Rapunzel shouted for Hiccup and Jack. "Hey, to the right!"

She saw everyone on the Night Fury also stare at the strange flock, which grew closer. Meanwhile she could see, even from a distance, that Jack's face filled with horror.

"Nightmares! Down!" He pointed at the ground. "Everyone land, hurry! In the trees!"

A jolt of fear stabbed at Rapunzel's heart. She watched Astrid scramble to hold on to the dragon. "Okay guys, like I said, fair warning: we're dropping. Stormfly, land, now!"

Rapunzel only had a time frame of one second to grab at Merida again, who also again grabbed at Astrid. Then her stomach caved in as they rocketed to the ground.

"Oh my God!" Rapunzel cried; she could feel herself lifting off of her seat. "Slow down!"

Then she heard the beastly shrieks coming from the right. She tried to open her eyes, only managing slits against the torrential air, and peered over just in time to see monstrous black horses bearing down on them.

With a shriek she grabbed at her hair; a pair of jaws had snatched at it before darting away. Realizing she was defenseless she tried to reach into the bags, tugging them open as another horse went for the edge of her dress. Her hand in the bag felt the spongy surface of bread, a couple of vegetables - and then the cold iron of a very familiar object.

Rapunzel yanked out a cast iron pan, and she felt infinitely more powerful gazing at it. "Yes..." She glanced around, saw another nightmare flying at her, and with a backhand dispatched it, watching it dissolve into black sand. Merida had taken to her bow and arrows, piercing one beast and then another. Astrid was crouching low over Stormfly, her axe in one hand, only popping up to swing if a nightmare came head-on.

"Come on!" she shouted as they streaked towards the treetops. Within seconds the tips of the conifers pierced past them, and Stormfly flung open her wings to land.

The jolt disoriented Rapunzel for a few seconds, just enough time for another nightmare to grab at her hair, this time refusing to release.

Rapunzel screamed, trying and failing to reach behind to hit it.

"Hold on!" Astrid leapt up, raised her axe, took two steps and swung. Rapunzel cringed as the blade whooshed over her, and she could feel the contact as it drove into the horse's side. With a cry it evaporated into sand.

Stormfly shrieked in anger, and flinging her tail out fired a volley of spikes at the beasts. The movement nearly threw the three riders off.

"Woah!" Astrid yelled. "Everyone off!"

Rapunzel and Merida did not hesitate as they slid off the Nadder's back. Rapunzel wielded her pan, Merida nocked her bow, and Astrid readied her axe as the nightmares weaved through the branches. Jack and Toothless were just approaching the ground now, all plagued by the beasts as well.

The next minute was a blur for Rapunzel. All she did was scan for the flitting shadows, and when they lunged she swung. Sometimes she connected right on the mark, other times only a glancing blow. After a few strikes she felt her arms grow weary from the impacts, but still she held the pan up.

Finally the nightmares began fleeing back towards the sky. She watched Jack freeze one, Hiccup run another one through with his flame sword, and that was the last of the conflict.

"What…" Rapunzel gasped. The adrenaline began to die, and she leaned against Stormfly, clutching her chest. "What...were those?"

"Nightmares," Jack whispered. "Spirits of fear, dreams corrupted by Pitch." He looked around. "Is anyone hurt?"

Everyone inspected themselves, considering for any pains. There was a gasp. "Elsa!"

Anna covered her mouth as she pointed to Elsa's arm. At her left elbow, the dress had been torn away and a pool of blood was oozing out, dripping to the ground and into the fabric.

Elsa turned her arm to look at it, and her face contorted in revulsion. "Ugh!"

"Hold on," Rapunzel forced herself onto her feet again. She took her hair in her hand. "Let me see." Elsa offered her elbow, and Rapunzel wrapped her hair around it, crooning: " _Flower, gleam and glow…"_

Sure enough, her locks began to shimmer, the light curling around her strands. After only a single verse, she unwrapped Elsa's arm. The area was still pink and fresh, but there was otherwise no sign of injury.

"Oh wow…" Elsa tapped it gingerly. "Thank you."

Jack gently clapped Rapunzel on the shoulder, giving her a smile. "Anyone else?" No one else. "Alright, good…kind of." He looked up at the sky again. "If Pitch is using nightmares, it'll be dangerous for us to fly."

"Actually, impossible." Hiccup stood up; he had been crouching over Toothless' tail. "Look."

The artificial fin had been torn to pieces, the wire bent about and the red fabric shredded.

"I can try to fix it up," Hiccup suggested, "we have metal and fabric here, but I don't know if we have the right kind…"

"Either way though, it may not be the best idea. Especially if your dragon only has a makeshift fin," Jack nodded, "if we encounter more flightmares, we may not be able to outmaneuver them." He looked up and down the mountain ranges, their ridges like rows. "It might be best if we walked."

Everyone glanced at each other. It was one thing to take a long journey in flight. To take it on foot would not only spend more time, but energy. Of course, there was little choice in the matter, with virtually no way to back out now.

"Alright," Astrid sighed. "Where do we go from here?"

Jack rubbed his chin. "If we follow the valley out of the mountains, it'll veer west, putting us off-course. But it'd be better than climbing over each peak. Plus, in the valley we have the tree cover, keep us hidden."

Everyone agreed to the plan, and getting themselves ordered they set off, following the foot of the mountains as it curved southeast, then south. The terrain ranged from a pleasant dry to a boot-trapping muddy. At the very least obstacles weren't a problem: if a large tree blocked their path, the dragons were more than happy to clear it.

The sun began to sink behind the peaks, and with its departure so too did warmth bleed away. Everyone tightened their clothes, and cloaks were fished out of packs.

"Here," Jack paused finally. They were in the midst of a clearing, right by a sheer stone face. There was a set of hollows in its side, which Rapunzel guessed would serve as sleeping quarters. She listened; she could hear the chorus of crickets, the occasional sound of a frog. Jack looked around. "Let's camp here for the night."

They piled their supplies in the caves, giving the dragons a respite. They wriggled and danced around, bobbing their heads with each other before scampering off into the woods. Merida shook her head after them. "I swear, those creatures are something else…"

Toothless and Stormfly ran back within a couple of minutes, just in time to light the campfire that had been constructed. Rapunzel was very thankful for its warmth. The cold had begun to get to her, biting at the inside of her nose with every breath. But now the roaring fire was a strong comfort, and she sat beholding its brilliant dance.

From the packs food was fished out. Along with a hearty chunk of bread, everyone had roasted vegetables, a hunk of cheese, some strips of dried meat, and a piece of chocolate. After a wearying walk, the meal was very well-received.

After the last of the food had been eaten, the dragons were sent out to hunt, and the seven others gathered around the fire.

"Do you hear that?" Jack whispered. Again Rapunzel tuned in to the ambience of the forest.

"It's really nice," Hiccup murmured.

"Yeah, I like it. It means that we're in the clear here." He smiled in reassurance. "We have a long journey ahead, and we should take these chances when we get them."

Rapunzel cocked her head at him. "What 'chances'?" For what?"

Without a word, Jack flicked his wrist. A snowball appeared in his hand.

"Hello? Guardian of fun here?" Ha!" He tossed it at her, and with a yell she dodged aside. Getting her bearings, she suddenly found a pile of snowballs lying beside her. At the same time, her fatigue from the day leaked out of her, and an eager excitement filled her heart.

"You!" With a smug look, she grabbed two of the snowballs and hurled them back. Then on a whim, she picked up a third and sent it flying at Merida. Meanwhile Jack targeted Elsa and Anna next.

"Jack Frost," Elsa stood up. "Are you sure you want to get into a snowball fight with me?" She raised her hands.

"Oh, here's the Ice Queen now everyone!" With a whooping laugh Jack leapt into the air as the campsite descended into chaos. Snowballs regenerated more than they were needed, and the conflict grew truly terrible. Sister turned against sister, boyfriend against girlfriend, as snow flew everywhere. When the dragons returned an hour later after finding fish in a stream, they were quickly sucked in by a couple of stray shots.

For a while, all thoughts of darkness and rings left their minds. For a moment, the world was a song and nothing more or less. All that existed was their fire, the nine of them, and the snowballs.


	16. Unexpected Meetings

When Merida woke the next morning, the sky shone blue, but the sun was barely peeking over at the far side of the valley; the group still slumbered in shadow. It was cold, and her limbs hesitated to move. With a grumble she stood, stamping her feet and rubbing her arms to work sensation back into her extremities.

The others slept, exhausted by the snow battle from the previous night (in which Jack had finally yielded to Elsa). Astrid and Rapunzel were lying with their heads leaning against Stormfly, just as Merida had been sleeping. Hiccup, Elsa, and Anna were doing the same thing with Toothless. That left someone missing…

"Morning."

Merida whirled around at Jack's voice, startled. He had his staff over his shoulder, casually pacing around.

"Sorry," he smirked at her surprise. Watching her expression turn to confusion, he continued, "Never been much of a sleeper myself. If it's not winter on one end of the world, it's winter on the other. Lots of frost, and only one me." He shrugged. "If I ever really need a rest, Sandy helps me out."

Merida nodded at this. "What is it like?"

"Huh?"

"To not sleep?"

Jack bobbed his head. "Sometimes a little lonely at night. That's usually when you see the cold snaps." With a smile, he turned to look at the others. "They should be getting up soon."

"What are we having for breakfast?"

Jack shrugged. "You're first up. I guess you get to choose."

"Hmmm...we have that bag of oats. And I think I saw some blackberries along our path yesterday."

"Oat porridge it is then?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna go get a few handfuls of those berries, that way we have a little more taste than...whatever the taste of porridge is."

"I'll let the others know, we can start cooking while you're gone."

"Good idea," she strode over and picked up her bow and quiver.

"Planning on running into some violent blackberry bushes?"

"Can't be too careful," she cocked an eye at him. "Mr. Guardian of Fun."

"Alright, but as long as you stay in the trees, the Nightmares shouldn't be able to see you or get at you."

Merida fell silent as she turned his words. "Yesterday," she remarked, "you looked pretty surprised to see the Nightmares at all."

He froze, looking at her. His cocky air had vanished.

"Jack," she approached him, "you _do_ know what you're doing, right?"

He nodded. "We're going to Mordor. We're going to destroy the Ring."

"We've barely left North's backyard, and things are already not going to plan." Merida felt a creeping sense of anxiety. "If we get into Mordor, and we fail...he's going to get the Ring back."

Jack bowed his head, seeming to think over her words. "Merida…" he began softly, "we don't have a choice. Anything else we do with the Ring will play into Sauron's hands. Our only chance is to go forward with the mission. And yes, you're right, I don't know everything that we're going to face. No one does. Not North, not Sandy. Even the Man in the Moon can't see into Mordor, there's a shadow over it. But we just have to face everything as it comes on. All I ask is that you trust me, and everyone here, and know that we're going to get through it."

Merida sighed. "As long as we do get through it." With that she marched into the forest, looking for berry bushes.

The trees caught the sunlight at their tops, making their pinnacles shine gilded. Below them the wood still lurked in cold shadow. Merida followed the slope down, every now and then pausing to look back and make sure she could keep their camp in her reckoning. A few steps ahead, she saw a stone outcrop jutting out of the earth, and with a sudden impulse she clambered atop it.

From her vantage point Merida could see far down the valley. Behind her the sun was spilled over the mountaintops, and the rolling slope before her led to an ocean of leaves and branches like the back of a wave. Merida could hear the song of the morning birds, and a few darted through the sky. Even further ahead, the ground curled back up into a peak, faded and pale from the distance. The mountains curved away to either side, becoming larger and more imposing to the right, and falling away into small hills to the left. As she stared that way, though, Merida squinted at the sky.

"What?"

To the southwest, several long plumes of smoke, waving like cat's tails above the treetops, marred the clear blue. Merida felt a foreboding shadow creep upon her. Holding her bow at the ready she pressed forward.

Step by step she crept towards the smoke, alternating her gaze between it and the ground. Whenever possible she placed her feet on moss and soft soil, avoiding sticks and plants, making as little noise as possible. The birdsong died away, leaving only her steps to greet her ears.

Until she heard crashing footfalls coming towards her.

She leapt behind a tree trunk, breathing heavily through her nose despite her attempts to control herself.

 _Please don't hear, please don't hear…_

But there was no change in the gait. It was approaching on her left, so Merida carefully slid around in the other direction to stay hidden. Now she could hear a harsh voice, muttering curses under its breath. She couldn't recognize the language, but it gave an impression of a constant growl. In fact, she at first doubted whether the person was speaking at all.

The footsteps traveled past her tree, and she dared to peek around the trunk. From behind, she saw a small figure, no more than four and a half feet high but with a stocky build. He wore armor that was too big for him, leaving no part of his skin visible. His helmet had a dome shape with ridge traveling across its crest, and it slid from side to side with every step.

Then the figure paused.

Merida heard a loud sniffing, and the head tilted up into the air. She brought her bow up, made sure the arrow was nocked correctly, drew it back…

The figure whirled around.

In the time frame of one second, Merida saw the sickly green skin, mottled and diseased; the haunting yellow eyes with black slits; a sunken chin, with a mouth too narrow for the head it was pasted on to. She heard only a short gurgling hiss before she let her arrow fly. The creature managed a step forward, his forehead was pierced, and he sprawled on the ground.

Merida quickly nocked another arrow and pulled it back, waiting for the terrible figure to get up. It did not. She edged closer, and gave its head a nudge with her toe.

Nothing.

Still not convinced, she rocked its head back and forth, hoping to cajole it into action in case it was playing dead.

Still nothing.

Finally Merida dared to lean down and roll it onto its back. The uncanny eyes stared up into the blue, and Merida stared close into the creature's face. The horrid visage only barely resembled a human's; if anything it was a cruel parody.

She looked around, trying to train her ears back to silence, hoping to detect anything that might be sneaking up on her. After a few minutes of scanning, though, she found nothing else.

"A scout…" she whispered under her breath. All thoughts of gathering fruit left her mind. Instead she pulled the helmet off of the goblin and began trekking back up the slope.

"Hey Merida!" was the first thing she heard as she approached. The others had woken, and Hiccup was beginning to boil water. He looked up at her approach. "Did you find anything?"

Without a word she tossed the helmet at his feet. Everyone stopped and stared at it.

"There was a creature in the woods," she explained. "The same ones wandering around DunBroch."

"Orcs," Jack whispered.

"They're camping off in the distance, it looks like a league out."

"I don't understand." Jack shook his head. "They shouldn't be out in the daylight…"

"Excuse me?"

"Orcs, if the sunlight meets their skin they're supposed to turn to stone." He ran his hand through his hair.

"Really?" Merida found this curious. "Orcs around DunBroch have been in broad daylight plenty of times."

"Our raiders," Rapunzel spoke up, trying to be helpful, "only seem to move around at night."

"Pitch must be doing something with them." Jack tried to peer into the distance. "Okay, everyone? We gotta eat fast, and head out. If we hug the mountains, we can probably skirt around them. Otherwise, we'll have to fight our way out."

There was a moment of tension as everyone looked around. The prospect of armed combat loomed large for most of them. Merida felt that she could hold her own in any skirmish, and the two Vikings didn't seem too fazed. Looking at the two princesses and the queen, though, the idea of facing armed soldiers painted the same uneasy expression across their faces.

Astrid looked over at the three of them. "You guys have weapons, right?"

Rapunzel nodded. "Anna and I each have a sword, if we need it."

"Okay, good. A frying pan isn't going to cut it here."

Astrid's attempt at jest didn't really work to lift anyone's spirits.

"Well here," Hiccup opened the sack of oats, breaking the silence. "We can't fight on an empty stomach."

* * *

After breakfast, they packed everything up, watched Astrid slip the Ring over her head, and began walking south, gradually curving to the west. The smoke of the fires grew closer. Merida kept her bow at the ready, watching the forest with trained eyes. Once or twice a shadow made her suddenly raise her aim, and everyone would halt. But in the end it was nothing, and they all kept moving forward. Joining her on the watch were the dragons, always watching the woods with suspicion, and Elsa, who had her hands raised, looking to fire off a bolt of frost at a moment's notice.

"Hey guys," Astrid's voice drew everyone's attention. "Look, up ahead." She had advanced several paces ahead of the group, and motioned for them to come forward as she pointed into the distance.

Their path curled around a corner, and began to cut more deeply into the mountain. The path ended up passing directly before a large cave mouth.

"That looks inviting," Hiccup snarked.

"Maybe we should go around?" Anna asked. "Find another way? That looks like someplace goblins could be hiding in…"

"I still think we should go in there," Elsa's voice said.

"Why?"

They heard a flurry of snow, and everyone whirled around.

"We need a place to hide!"

As they had been standing there, contemplating the cavern, a horde of orcs had snuck up behind them, and now they all came crashing out of the foliage. Merida's reflexes almost failed her, but she was able to take down three goblins before they could reach her. Their long rectangular swords tore up the dirt as they fell, but even as they sprawled over each other more came up behind them. Merida bent down just quickly enough to yank her arrow shaft out of an orc's body before she promptly fired it again. She looked to the side, and saw Jack grappling a couple of them with his staff, and Toothless swinging his tail to knock them aside. To her other side, Stormfly shielded herself with her wings and flung her tail spikes, impaling the goblins. Beside her Hiccup was slicing his flaming sword back and forth, and Astrid was swinging with her axe, hitting an arm here and a side there.

As Merida looked at their expressions of horror and disgust, though, she realized something: she was the only one, besides Jack, who had any kind of experience with these creatures. Sure enough, a glance at Rapunzel, Elsa, and Anna confirmed her theory. A few arrows hissed through the air by her ears, making her instinctively duck for cover.

"Fall back!" Jack shouted. Merida reached for another arrow, and found her quiver beginning to empty. She still had a good supply, about twenty, but it still wasn't endless…

Merida began dashing backwards, turning to shoot, strafing and making her way towards the mouth of the cave. As she drew near the ground turned from dirt to stone, and she nearly tripped against a rock protruding from the floor. A few more arrows, another couple of orcs spinning down dead.

"Come on!" Astrid's voice this time, echoing from deeper inside. Merida kept retreating further into the cave, which began to slant downwards, its mouth now silhouetted along with the figures pursuing them inside. Some of the lumbering orcs got on their hands, crawling forward with unnatural speed. Their hisses and snarls created a hellish sound that magnified itself in the closed space, and their voices drew closer…

In the dark, Merida couldn't see where to fire.

"A little light here?!" She yelled. A squawk let her know that Stormfly answered, and the dragon cracked open her mouth just in time for her flame to reveal a goblin leaping towards Merida.

With a cry she reached for her belt and grasped her dagger. In one fluid motion she sliced it out and cut the orc across his torso while sidestepping his attack.

"Okay, hold here!" Jack shouted. "We can take them on!"

The swarm approached them, illuminated by dragon fire, but it was an onslaught that they could handle. Between Merida's arrows, Jack and Elsa's ice, Astrid's axe-wielding, Hiccup's deft sword blows, not to mention the dragons' thrashing, they held the goblins at bay. Even Rapunzel and Anna, although awkward with their weapons, managed to land a strike or two. The orcs fell just as quickly as they arrived - and soon, they began to arrive less quickly.

"Ha!" Merida got one in the back of the head. "They're runnin' off! We did it!"

Everyone gathered together, clapping each other on the shoulder, congratulating each other for a job well done ("Rapunzel, thanks for getting that one guy off my back!") and cheering the retreat of their enemy.

"Hey, nice job there Jack!" Merida laughed. Her joy evaporated when she saw his face. "Jack?"

He was staring up at the mouth of the cave, where the light shone in. "No...God, no…"

Now she could hear it. The yelling in that foul language, the shouts of the orcs...and an unearthly growl, like stone scraping over broken glass.

Everyone quieted as they stared up at the cave's entrance. The growl came again, louder. A hulking form prowled into the light, a nightmarish silhouette that they could only see part of: a hunched spine, lumpy ribs, a bizarrely wolfish outline.

"What...is that?" Merida pointed weakly.

Jack took a long time to answer. The shadow seemed to scan the darkness for them.

"Draugluin," he whispered. "The sire of all the werewolves during the first war."

Merida began to reach for her arrow, but he grabbed her arm. The growl came again, turning into a snarl that sounded like a hundred human screams echoing from the walls. It crouched.

"RUN!"


	17. Draugluin

Hiccup scrambled further into the cavern as another snarl tore at his ears. Of all the dragons he'd faced, not one of them had inspired in him the terror that he now felt. He had always believed that any beast had the capacity for peace and goodness inside of it, but now he had to qualify that belief. His brain screamed at him to survive, and his heart shrank from the shadow that now bounded after them.

"Run!" Jack shouted again. He urged them on with his staff. "Hiccup, your sword!"

He already had it in his hand. With a flick he reignited the blade and held it aloft, coming to the front of the group. The way ahead was dark, delving into the mountain's heart. Ahead and to their right was a narrow tunnel.

"This way!" Jack paused at the entrance to see everyone inside. Hiccup rushed in first, holding his light aloft. He took a few steps before turning to see the others. They crowded in, pushing him back.

As soon as Jack cleared the hole, there was a furious tearing as the werewolf beset the wall. Hiccup felt a putrid wave of humid air wash over him as Draugluin clawed at the stone, intent on ripping his way towards them.

"Go, go!" Hiccup couldn't tell who had yelled, but it didn't matter - the voice was right. They went deeper into the tunnel, the roars echoing off the walls and following them.

"Where are we going!?" Hiccup recognized Merida's accent.

"Okay, okay, I think I've been here before, a century or two ago. If I remember right, this is an abandoned mine, so just up-" He was cut off by another hideous scream from the werewolf. "-just up ahead, there should be an old rail, with a bridge that leads to an opening on the other side of the mountain."

"An old what?" Hiccup yelled to be heard over the sound of stone still being rent apart.

"A rail - oh, geez," Jack shook his head. "Something from the old times, a way out of here. Come on!"

They rushed down the passage, Hiccup leading with his sword - at least until it began to run out of juice.

"Oh no, no no no." He watched its flame dwindle away. After collapsing it back and re-extending it, the fire caught again, but it was weaker than before and already appeared on the edge of extinction. "I'm running out of dragon saliva!"

"Stormfly, Toothless!" At Astrid's prompting, the dragons cracked open their mouths and lit the way. The group continued to press forward, until finally their path intersected with another tunnel.

"This is it!" Jack shouted. He gestured at the floor, where two long lines of rust carved into the stone. Hiccup had no idea what they were for, but if Jack was happy to see them then surely they led to something good. "Okay, the bridge should be in this direction, and from there, there should be an exit out of the mine!"

The dragons lit the tunnel, and everyone followed the twin tracks of rust. The cacophony of Draugluin faded, becoming an indistinct clashing that sounded from far away. The sense of alarm began to quiet.

"Are we safe?" Rapunzel began to slow, looking back. "I mean, it couldn't fit down here."

"No, but the orcs could." Astrid pushed her forward. "Come on, they're probably flooding the tunnel now!"

For a long time they raced down the long passage, the walls expanding to fit four of them at a time, then shrinking to allow only one. The floor sloped downwards, and gradually so they hardly realized it began to level, then angle up.

"You sure we're going the right way?" Anna asked.

"Positive! It's a long way, I know, just hold on!"

As they continued, though, Hiccup began to question Jack's guidance too. The tunnel, on top of sloping upwards, began to gently curve around. Soon he couldn't tell which direction they were going in, south or east or north or west.

"Jack," he finally spoke up. "Are you sure-"

"Yes, I'm sure!" But there was a certain rush, too much of a hurry to assure them. Hiccup could feel the edge of doubt press on everyone in the group. "Come on!"

Still they kept going, the tunnel continuing to rise and fall and twist to the side. Hiccup was just about to object again, more strongly this time, when Jack shouted "Look, there!"

Sure enough, up ahead the walls and ceiling came to an abrupt end, and the lines of rust shot off into the darkness upon a thin slab of stone. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they spotted the bridge.

"See, I told you guys!" Jack laughed as he walked onto the bridge, "I know what I'm-"

A chorus of ugly cries echoed below him, and he sprinted back into the tunnel as a hail of arrows clicked against the stone.

"They caught up to us," Elsa gasped. "How do we get across…"

Everyone was at a loss, until she spoke up again.

"Jack...ever had a partner in ice-building before?"

"In what now?"

"Ice-building. I mean, that's what I call it…" she shrugged. "Look, I'll show you." Carefully peering out into the darkness, she flicked her wrist. A thin wall of ice sprouted up along the edge of the bridge, shielding it from arrows. "I don't know if I can keep the whole bridge shielded at once, but if you can cover the rest-"

"That's it!" Jack bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet. "Okay, you get people going, block as much as you can, alright?"

Elsa turned and focused on the bridge. Hiccup watched as the ice grew taller, and it spread far down almost out of sight.

"Here, Astrid, go ahead with Stormfly! Find the other side! Take Rapunzel and Anna, go!"

"Alright, hold on…" She watched the ice grow taller, gauging the height needed to shelter her dragon. "Come on guys, go!"

The three of them raced across the bridge, the glow in Stormfly's mouth fighting back the darkness and casting their silhouette upon the ice. Icy clicks announced the onslaught of arrows that tried to stop them, halted only inches from their marks.

"Okay," Elsa said. "Hiccup, Merida? When they're across, we'll go over with Toothless, alright?"

"'Ow about a bit sooner?" Merida yelled. She raised her bow. "Look out!"

She let the arrow fly, and it struck the wall behind them; goblins were crawling over its surface, their scraggly limbs clinging to the rock. They swarmed up the stone, trying to climb onto the bridge.

"Now!" Elsa screamed. "Go now!"

Hiccup, Toothless, and Merida began running, looking back to watch their pursuers leap from the wall, staggering after them with inhuman speed. Toothless fired a pair of plasma bolts, and Merida emptied at least a dozen arrows into the teeming mass, but still the orcs pressed towards them.

Then in the distance, they heard the shrieking howls.

Hiccup felt his pulse quicken, nearly making his heart burst from his chest. The goblins also slowed their pursuit, and even at a distance he could see the fear creeping over their foul faces.

"Draugluin!" Hiccup screamed. "Go, go!"

After running forever, Hiccup became aware that the other half of their party was present again.

"Got everyone?" Jack asked. "Okay, up there!"

He pointed away from the bridge, to a ledge jutting up from the ground. The rust lines ran up to it, into a mass of corroded bronze. A ladder stood by its edge, but it too had corroded over the years.

"Over the edge!" Jack shouted. "Come on, come on!" Even as he spoke, the roars grew deafening again. "Astrid first, Ringbearer first!" He laced his fingers together and stood with his back to the stone. She placed her boot in his hands, and he got her onto the ledge. "C'mon hurry! It's coming!"

"I'll buy us some time," Merida readied her bow and arrow, coming close to the end of the bridge. "C'mon you over-grown dog, show your face!"

"Merida, no!"

Hiccup rushed to her side and took her arm. Just as he did, a pair of paws appeared on either side, and a face rose before them.

Never in all his life had he seen a wolf like this. Besides the sheer scale of the monster, the contours of its muzzle and head looked horribly misguided. Its teeth all showed, too large for the mouth they filled. And its eyes, devoid of life and brimming with hate, reflecting back his own face. Hiccup felt a cold sensation running through his gut, like his insides were collapsing in ice. Merida never even fired her shot, standing frozen in fear.

"Hiccup! Merida!"

Jack's voice snapped him out of it, and with a yell Hiccup tore himself away, yanking Merida behind him. Most of the others had gotten over the cliff, the dragons having leapt up on their own. Jack was just boosting Anna up.

"Hurry guys!" Astrid yelled. Behind him, Hiccup could hear the werewolf scraping at the rock, trying to heave itself onto the stone cliff.

Jack held out his hands for Merida, looking up in terror as the beast approached. "Go, go, go!"

Hiccup turned, saw the monstrous head rising behind them.

Then it was blocked by the silhouettes of two dragons.

The shrill shrieks of Toothless and Stormfly met the growls of Draugluin.

"Toothless!" Hiccup shouted to his dragon. "Toothless, no!"

"Hiccup!" Jack's voice called him.

Another glance back, then Hiccup allowed himself to be boosted over the ledge. He turned and hollered again: "Toothless! We're over!"

"Stormfly!" Astrid's voice joined his own. Both were drowned out, though, over the conflict.

The hulking form of Draugluin barely fit on the space between the bridge and the ledge that they stood on. Before the werewolf, two dragons, not even half its size. It howled its displeasure and took a lanky step forward, only to be blasted back by a barrage of plasma and magnesium.

"Let's go!" Jack gestured. "They're holding out for us, let's get out of here!"

Hiccup turned, and saw indeed that daylight was far in the distance. He turned again, and saw his NIght Fury and the Deadly Nadder, holding the monster at bay. He took a few steps back.

"Hiccup! Astrid!"

"We can't leave them behind!" Astrid yelled.

"They'll follow us! Just come on-"

"No, Toothless!"

Hiccup watched in horror as he watched his dragon leap upon Draugluin's shoulder, biting and scratching. Stormfly swept into the air, lashing out her tail, slashing with her talons. The wolf screamed in fury, and rose on its hind legs. Fire, shadow everywhere, and a noise that made the ground tremble.

Hiccup watched as one of the Nadder's wings was caught in the beast's teeth.

"NO!" He and Astrid screamed.

Toothless roared, Stormfly screeched. Draugluin beat its head upon the ceiling of the cave, quaking the earth and tearing the rock of the cave apart.

Hiccup didn't make out words any more. He had to help his dragon, but hands held him back, dragging him away.

"No, no! We have to help!"

Stones falling, a terrible sound of collapse, the air made thick and unbreathable. He squeezed his eyes shut.

When he opened them again, the scene of the wolf and dragons was obscured by a wall of rubble.

All had gone quiet.

Hiccup felt his breath steal away, his stomach turn inside out.

" _TOOTHLESS!"_

Still being dragged backwards, away from the stones that lay between him and his dragon, or atop his dragon -

" _NO! NO!"_

Words were being said to him, but he didn't want to hear them. He shoved the arms and sorry faces away.

"Toothless!" He let his call drag out as long as possible. A horrible sob clenched his throat, threatening to strangle him. He struggled for breath, it hurt so much.

Bit by bit, he found himself steered towards the exit, and he stumbled out onto sunlit gravel. He fell to his knees, clutching the ground with one hand and his face with the other.

"Please...we gotta...we have to…"

"Hiccup, I'm sorry," he felt Jack's cool touch on his shoulder. "There's no way that...I've never seen anyone...escape…"

Hiccup cradled his face again, tried to stifle the flood that overcame his heart, and failed miserably. It couldn't be true, he didn't want to believe it...

Another soft touch. Looking up through blurry eyes, he could make out Astrid's face. She seemed more composed, but just barely holding herself together.

"Hiccup," she whispered, "they can't be dead, can they?"

He knew what she was looking for. He was the expert on dragons. His word would be the final verdict. He looked back at the cave.

"I…" he choked. "I don't see how they can be alive."

That was the finality. She broke, and began to gently weep on his shoulder

His dragon. Gone. His best friend, the one that had changed his life and the entire village. Gone. It was like losing his father all over again…

Hiccup seized Astrid in a hug, and she returned it, both sobbing into each other. Only gradually did the rest of their group fade into existence.

"Astrid," Anna approached cautiously. "Do you...want me to have a turn with-"

With a growl Astrid yanked the chain from around her head and threw the Ring at Anna, where it hit her arm and fell to the ground. For a second Hiccup glared at it, lying there on the gravel. He remembered that Toothless had found it, unwittingly sending himself to his doom…

Hiccup damned it. Hiccup damned the Ring and everything it had brought onto him and Astrid, and Stormfly and Toothless. If he could help it, he would inflict on Sauron all the pain he was feeling, a thousand times over.

For a long time they stayed there, Hiccup and Astrid holding each other and the rest of the group glancing back at the caves, hoping that the pair of dragons would come bounding out.

They did not.

"Here," Jack finally whispered. "We...we need to keep moving."


	18. The Man in the Moon

The group fled south from the mountains, out the mouth of the valley and into the woods that separated the peaks from the river. Astrid struggled for two days, her body hardly able to drag her spirit along.

Losing Stormfly took a terrible toll. For over five years the Nadder had poked her head through the window every morning to wake her, followed her around always sniffing for an extra chicken leg, taken her through hell and back...and now she was gone. Astrid felt her heart lament, but by the second day she began to ferment her grief into anger.

She was going to wring Pitch dry, for daring to send that damned beast after her dragon. And then she was going to Mordor.

"Astrid?" She heard Anna call. "Can you take a turn?"

"Sure." Anna handed her the Ring, and she slipped it on. She felt the burden settle on her, a little heavier now. With a defiant resolve she stood up straight and kept going forward.

For Stormfly's sake, she would not fail.

Hiccup had a harder time coping. By day he acted alright, although he tended to draw off on his own more. During the night, however, Astrid had heard him quietly weeping, when he thought the others were asleep. It turned out that they weren't; the next day, no one mentioned it, but they were extra comforting.

On the third day, they came to the edge of a cliff. Standing on the edge, Astrid could look down and see a lush forest below, spreading out for miles before tapering off to the south into steppe. Far beyond it, a flaming gold ribbon indicated where the River of Kings wound its way west.

"Let's stop here." Jack peered at the sunset. "Should be a good spot. Let's get some shelter up…"

Camping was much less warm without the dragons. Lean-to shelters could not provide body heat, and lighting a fire by hand took a good while longer. After a quiet meal of grilled vegetables, there was the usual report from Jack, the "We're getting there", the "We just have to keep going", and everyone was ready for bed.

Astrid, Hiccup, and Merida shared a lean-to, which tilted itself against a tree. Through the space on one end, Astrid could see the wood they were just leaving. Out the other end, she saw the landscape to the south, the river changing to a silver stream as the moon emerged.

"'S lovely, isn't it?"

Astrid looked over. Merida was lying on her stomach, staring out over the cliff.

"Reminds me of home," she whispered. "Sometimes at night, I'd go up to the top of Castle DunBroch, and watch the moon rise over the forest. My brothers would sometimes join me, with a leg of mutton. One time, my father was negotiating with the Dingwall Clan, and he called us down. When we scrambled from the rooftop, and they saw us," She chuckled at the memory. " 'The princess, on the roof?' Ah, how they laughed."

"Wow," Hiccup breathed. Astrid looked at him - since the incident in the cave, he hadn't said more than five words. "Y'know, I, uh...I used to take Toothless around for midnight flights. I dunno, the night air just feels more refreshing."

"Aye," Merida stared out again. She gave a little sniff. "It's funny, this place feels more like home than my actual home, at least the past several months. Now it's..." With a sigh, she let her head rest against her palms. "All I wanna do is stop Pitch."

"We're going to," Astrid said. "We're going to destroy the Ring."

She went quiet. "How can I save DunBroch if I'm not in DunBroch? I wish I was home. At least I'd _know_ I was fighting for my kingdom. I mean, what if we're not doing the right thing?"

"The Guardians said-"

"I know, I know." Merida sighed. "But I don't think - oh, never mind." She turned around and stared at the roof of their shelter.

"You don't think they know what they're doing?"

Hiccup's answer again surprised Astrid.

"Yeah...yeah, that's exactly it." Merida gestured with her hands. "For a while there, Jack didn't know where he was going. And between the Guardians, one of them died, one of them has been captured, and one of them tried to take the Ring before. How do we know they're so perfect?"

"Merida, come on." Astrid didn't like where this was going. "You know that's foolish. They've been around a long time, Jack knows what he's doing."

But the image of Stormfly being caught by Draugluin flashed in her mind again. That surely had not been an intended consequence…

"Jack had better want to save DunBroch," Merida stated. "Otherwise, I don't care how 'wise' he is."

The silence grew uncomfortably long.

"Well...good night?" Astrid offered.

"Good night," Hiccup and Merida replied.

With that, Astrid was left in the dark with her thoughts. Her breathing slowed as she tried to get closer to sleep, but the Ring lay heavy upon her chest.

A sudden fear ensnared her. She wrapped her hand around the Ring, and let her fist rest atop her body.

Satisfied with its security, she now let herself fall into slumber.

* * *

A prickle of cold nipped her nose and cheeks. Astrid shook her head gently, groaning, before she opened her eyes.

At the opening of the lean-to, Jack's upside down head greeted her. Astrid gasped in surprise. He held a silent finger to his lips, then gestured for her to come.

Minding not to wake Hiccup and Merida, she crawled out of the shelter and stood up. Anna was also there. Jack, meanwhile, was perched atop the lean-to. It was surreal - had he been a normal human, the structure would have collapsed beneath him. Instead he had no more impact than a drop of rainwater.

Again silent, he motioned for them to follow, before leading them parallel to the cliff's edge. He bounded high in the branches, watching them follow, before darting through the air and alighting upon another tree limb.

Anna gave her a glance, gesturing to ask what was happening. Astrid only shrugged back. What was Jack playing at…?

Finally they entered another clearing, right on the edge of the cliff, and Jack floated to the ground in front of them.

"What…" Anna had to stifle a yawn before asking, "What's going on?"

"Our mission," Jack didn't look them in the eye. "It's not going so well."

Astrid felt her gut jolt at these words. "What are you saying? We should go back?"

"No," he shook his head. "We can't go back. This is very important, we _have_ to destroy the Ring. It's just…" he coughed. "Here, this is why I brought you here. And actually why I chose this place to stop tonight. I thought you needed to have a talk."

He pointed up at the sky. The moon shone at its zenith.

Anna spoke first. "...about the moon?"

"No. _With_ the moon."

Jack picked up his staff and began tilting it around in small circles, muttering strange words under his breath. A circle of lattice-like ice began to crystallize, growing into a globe. The designs etched across its face branched and twisted around each other. Light danced across its surface and within its heart. Still muttering, Jack gently moved his fingers up. He did not touch the orb, yet he guided it up into the air, floating above the cliff. As the moonlight came through, it dappled across the rock. The orb began to spin slowly.

"It's very rare that a human speaks directly to the Man in the Moon," Jack whispered. "So take his words very seriously."

The orb paused; there was a circle of darkness upon the stone. In its very center, the light was refracted into a single beam, just large enough for two to stand in.

Jack gestured for the pair of them to step forward.

Astrid felt nervous approaching the light. What was she supposed to say to the moon? Would she even understand?

"What is he going to say?" she asked.

"Things you need to hear," Jack answered. "Please, he's expecting you."

Astrid took a deep breath, looked at Anna.

Both stepped into the light.

Looking up at the orb, Astrid felt it fill her eyes. She was floating, the ground disappearing beneath her feet. Far far away from the cliff…

She was scrambling over black rocks, up a dangerous winding stair. A fear gripped her, but she didn't know what for…

Then it faded.

Now a window, open. Voices floated out, a silhouette of a bald man with a mustache. Facing him, a shadow. One trying to reason and failing. The other revelling in intimidation...

Looks. Glances. Rapunzel, seeming like she wanted to say something when it appeared on its chain. Merida, looking up and staring as it was passed from hand to hand. Even Hiccup, his eyes resting a little too long on its golden sheen. Watchful, and always more so.

Then they faded.

A dark place, horrible screams and screeches and light, orcs fleeing before a tumultuous battle.

Darkness swallowed that too.

Now she saw a city sleeping on the water. Astrid recognized it as Arendelle easily enough - then the recognition vanished, as flame blossomed from its streets. Villagers fleeing in every direction, the sound of swords and arrows and screams. Goblins crawling everywhere, revelling in the fear and blood. Growls. Smoke. Light and shadow clashing. Chains lashed about ankles and wrists, a blackness overcoming everything, so dark-

Astrid felt herself yanked out of the circle of light, stumbling over a few steps. Anna was trembling beside her.

"No, no…" she could barely speak. "That's...it can't-"

"It's what will happen if we don't succeed," Jack said. "The same thing will happen to Berk, DunBroch, Corona...everywhere."

"I can't…" Anna said. "What I saw, I can't face it...please, I can't do this. I can't save all those lives! I could barely save my sister without being killed. There, my sister, she's stronger! Let her take it, one of them!"

Jack did not answer beyond gesturing to the light. "Ask the Man in the Moon."

By his tone, Astrid felt like she was not going to enjoy what they were about to see. But again they stepped into the circle, let the moonlight fill their eyes…

There it was. The Ring, spinning in the light. Then the light vanished, gone so completely, Astrid felt she had completely lost the ability to see anything other than the Ring.

She began to feel hot. Her stomach churned. Whispers, cruel tongues…

Then a body grew out of the Ring.

First the finger it was attached to, then the hand, then the arm...until Rapunzel stood before them.

A rolling growl, _Ash nazg durbatulûk..._

Only it was not the Rapunzel they knew. Her face was twisted, marked by hatred. She yelled to armies, pointed them to war, invincible men who could never be felled thanks to the grace of their god-queen, the source of immortality -

 _Ash nazg gimbatul…_

But it wasn't her. Merida, warrior-queen of DunBroch, keeping all clans in line with an iron fist, pillaging towns at a whim, personally executing her foes with bow and arrow, the Ring burning bright on her finger -

 _Ash nazg thrakatulûk..._

Not her finger. Elsa's. With a laugh she froze whimpering people in their tracks, a collection of ice sculptures for her courtyard. Snowmonsters in the army, rampaging through towns, tearing apart homes and flinging people like ragdolls -

 _Agh burzum-ishi krimpatul..._

No, not snowmen. Dragons. Entire cities razed to the ground, charred skeletons and ashes, men and women and children lying in piles. Hiccup laughing madly atop a stone throne, cackling as he ordered his dragons to feed, the reptiles powerless to disobey, jabbing his finger, the Ring burning bright -

 _Snagizub Bordurub_

It was Elsa.

 _Snagizub Viduldil_

It was Rapunzel

 _Snagizub Frumgru_

It was Merida.

 _Snagizub_ _Kulkodargoth_

It was Hiccup - and then Elsa again.

They constantly morphed into each other, and Astrid could not identify one form from another. The figure raised its hand, hateful and powerful and cruel. It was the one reciting the cursed poem, uttering the foul names, wrapped in shadow. The backgrounds faded, falling, drawing closer, no, she didn't want to see, fire lapping behind the darkness that had consumed the Four, watching, waiting…

WIth a cry Astrid yanked herself from the light, falling upon the ground. The vision disappeared. The fire was gone, and the figure had vanished. Yet the image burned in her mind, the look that had been on Hiccup's face…

"That's why they can't carry it." Jack offered her his hand to get up. "That's why they can't be around it. They were born to be enslaved by it, and they will be."

"They can't be around…" Astrid gasped for breath. The words sunk in. "We have to leave…"

"If the Four continue with the Ring, they won't be able to resist much longer. Already I think some of them are starting to fall for it. Anna," he nodded to her. "You said your sister is stronger. She has control over ice...but you have a strong will. You chased after your sister last summer, even when the entire Kingdom of Arendelle had frozen over. You didn't give up on her. You have a resolve that will carry you far. And Astrid," he shrugged. "I don't think I need to motivate you. You do what needs to be done, that's the way you are."

She nodded. "When should we leave?"

"As soon as possible. If you leave now, I'll take the others back to North, and-"

"No," she shook her head. "I can't leave Hiccup without telling him 'good-bye', not when he's like this."

"Then in the morning," Jack agreed. "Anna?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "We'll leave."

"Alright. Get some shut-eye then." He nodded, then turned to stare over the cliff. Anna and Astrid walked back.

"Hey Anna...could you take a turn?"

"Had a little rough time there?"

"Think we both did."

Anna slipped the Ring's chain over her head and got back into her lean-to, beside Elsa and Rapunzel. Astrid slipped in beside Merida and Hiccup. If she had been less tired and less preoccupied with her thoughts, she would've noticed they were not snoring.

* * *

Jack stood by the cliff for a long time, pondering over the conversation and the decision and whether it was the right thing-

Hoofsteps interrupted his thoughts.

He chuckled. "How long did it take you ride up here on those things?"

There was the sound of dismounting, and three Ringwraiths appeared before him.

"It is here," the frontmost one hissed. "You have the Ring?"

"Do I, let's see…" he dug in his hoodie pockets. "No ring there...no ring there. Whoops, sorry!"

"Do not play games, Jack Overland Frost." Their hands rested on their sword hilts. "Our lord grows tired by the continued insolence of the Guardians."

"Tell him to expect more insolence," Jack brandished his staff. He was delighted to see the three of them fall back. "That's right, there's no way you're getting that Ring, not while I have a say in it."

"What can you want with it? Have you finally discovered its usefulness? Delivering it to a favored kingdom? Looking to use the Four and the One against their rightful master?"

"Whatever you'd like to think. The important thing is, you're no match for me, so get lost." He brandished his staff again, more threatening. They melded completely into the shadows. He turned, but suddenly the voice came again, like it was right behind him:

"You, in turn, are no match for the One. You will fail, Frost. Your worst enemies are those in the camp right now."

With a growl he turned and launched a bolt of frost into the darkness. He raced back to the camp, looking around desperately.

All was quiet. All was well.

He sank onto the ground, sitting, and rested until the sun rose.


	19. Frumgru Falls

Anna woke the next morning with bleary eyes. Her sister slept to the left, her face buried within the crook of her arm. On the other side of Elsa, Anna could hear Rapunzel softly breathing.

Their decision the night before returned to her memory, driving her mind beyond any hope of returning to sleep. She still hadn't figured out how to break the news. _Elsa, you can't continue on the journey because you're too dangerous, so goodbye._ How was she going to phrase that gently?

Anna crawled out of the lean-to and stood up, finding Jack waiting for her. _Please don't ask, please don't ask…_

"Are you ready to go?"

Anna sighed. "I think so," she whispered. "I just don't know what I'm going to say."

"You'll know. And if you do need help, I'll give you a hand."

They were interrupted by a yawn. "Morning," Hiccup greeted them through squinted eyes. "What do we have for today?"

Jack looked at Anna and gently guided her to speak. She quickly assembled something: "Here, uh...we have a plan drawn up, but maybe it'll be easier to explain it only once? Yeah, let's...I'll say when everyone's up."

Hiccup looked concerned, and glanced at Jack, who nodded in affirmation "Okay, yeah, we'll talk about it later…" He wandered to the other side of camp, and Jack turned to Anna.

"See, that was great. Don't worry, you still have a bit of time before the others wake up."

Merida was the next to rise, then Elsa, then Astrid. "I can take a turn if you want," she offered.

"No, I got it for now."

There was a pause. "Anna…"

"No, not like that! Look," she took off the chain and held it out. "See, I'm not trying to keep it, I was just saying I'm doing alright."

Astrid still looked suspicious. "Really?"

"I promise!"

Astrid took hold of the golden chain - and Anna felt an involuntary jump in her arm. Nothing drastic, just a little flinch, but it still shocked her. She searched Astrid's face to see if she noticed. Both of them held onto the chain.

"Alright," Astrid let go. "I believe you. Just making sure."

"Ha, yeah…" Anna nodded and put it back on, a chill crawling down her spine with spindly legs. No, she had to make sure she didn't fall for it. It was evil, wicked, detestable. In fact, she wouldn't even think about it. She began focusing on a nearby tree, wondering about what kind it was, ignoring the weight that suddenly felt heavier-

"Anna?" It was Hiccup. "Hey, we're gonna try to get a fire going. Do you think you could get us some extra wood?"

She nodded without thinking.

"Right thanks. Hey Jack, I wanted to ask you something?"

Anna headed into the trees, and the sounds of camp drifted away. She began to gather all the sticks she could find, reflecting on what she had felt. Focus. Remember what you have to do. Pausing for a second she pulled out the Ring to glare at it. She project every feeling of revulsion and hatred possible onto it. Don't let it get to you, don't let it suck you in. As Anna stared, she could practically feel it arguing back, laughing, mocking, unfriendly eyes sneaking behind her...

"Out here too, huh?"

Merida's voice made Anna whirl around. The redhead came up to her, also collecting firewood.

"Hiccup said he's going to show us a traditional Viking recipe," she said. "Should be interesting."

"Yeah…" Anna quickly hid the Ring again and kept searching, keeping an ear on Merida. It seemed her mind wasn't focused on Hiccup's recipes.

"You feeling alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay."

"Didn't sleep well?"

That was it - that's what was eating at Anna! Relieved that she at least had a reason behind her lapse, she answered, "Was a bit of a long night, I guess. Hopefully it won't be too bad tonight."

"Been having trouble sleeping too, just worried 'bout so many things." Merida stooped to pick up a small broken branch. "How's the Ring doing for you?"

Anna didn't want to think about it, but she still went along. "It's fine. Astrid and I have it under control."

"Y'know, I actually wanted to talk to you about that." _Oh no…_ "It's not too late to change our course. If we go southwest from here, we can get to DunBroch in a month, once we find some steeds."

"Oh, I don't know. I mean, I don't think the Guardians would think that it's a good idea…"

"We don't have to tell Jack." Merida stopped collecting. "Look, I already talked to Hiccup. He thinks it's the right idea. If we get Astrid and the others in, we just walk out on Frost. We take the Ring to DunBroch, and we use it to stop the Boogeyman, and then we go into Mordor-"

"We can't." Anna grew frustrated. "How many times did the Guardians say that we can't use it?"

" _They_ can't use it. And maybe some people shouldn't be able to have it. But surely someone pure of heart, someone bold could overpower it and use it for good?"

Anna gently leaned her load against a tree, staying calm to mask her rising pulse. "Someone like?"

"Well, I mean, I'm not saying myself, but anyone who'd be worthy…" She also set down her wood. "I mean, if we really felt I was the best candidate, I wouldn't shy away from it."

Merida came closer, putting on a forced display of pleasantness.

"Anna, listen to reason. Already we've lost the two strongest members of our team, and we're far from Sauron's reach. There's no chance if we go into Mordor. We have the one thing that can defeat Sauron, and the Guardians want us to throw it away! Don't be stupid like them!"

She took a step forward. Anna stepped back. Merida paused.

"What's the matter?"

"Merida, you're the one who needs to listen, to yourself."

"You said yourself you didn't know what to do! What I'm telling you-"

"Helped me make up my mind."

"Then you're coming to DunBroch?"

"No." Anna took another step back. "The Ring will destroy DunBroch before it saves it. It'll destroy you and the others. That's why Astrid and I are going alone to Mordor. It's too dangerous for you, Jack showed us-"

"Enough with Jack!" The sudden outburst was quickly smothered with a smile. "He doesn't know what he's saying, he's been tricked, you've been tricked. Don't be stupid…" She took a step forward. There was a look in her eyes...a look Anna had seen last night…

"Merida…" She took a step back. "Please, think about what you're doing."

"Think about it? Anna, I've spent _months_ , agonizing over how I would save DunBroch. Now the answer is staring me in the face. I'm not going to let it go."

Anna glanced around. The camp was ahead of her, she'd have to run past Merida to get to it. "The Ring isn't the answer. You have to listen, I saw a vision last night-"

"Enough, with the visions, and the Guardians!"

Merida came forward, and Anna stumbled back, trying to circle around her. Her voice grew more and more hysterical, her eyes fierce, her face terrible.

"I'm not going to let my kingdom die, no matter what it takes! You don't get to decide DunBroch's fate because you were lucky enough to carry that thing. It could have been anyone, it could have been me! It should have been me!"

She lunged out. Anna tried to escape, ended up tripping and falling. Merida was on top of her in an instant.

"Give me the Ring!"

"No!"

"Give it to me!"

"No, please!" Anna could feel eager fingers searching at her cloak, at her throat, trying to grasp it. She had the chain, yanking on it. Anna grabbed the Ring, fumbled. Merida sat up, drew her bow and an arrow-

"GIVE IT TO ME!"

With a cry Anna slipped the Ring on.

Merida paused as the girl disappeared from under her. It was just enough for Anna to shove her off and run into the trees. After passing by several trunks she stopped and took cover. The world had gone pale and misty around her, but she could still peek out and see Merida aiming her bow.

"COME OUT!" She screamed. "Anna, don't do this! You'll take it to Sauron, we're all going to die! Just give it to me! Give it to…give…"

Anna saw her eyes grow wide. The darkness that had covered her expression was gone. Merida's chest began heaving, and her aim lowered.

"Oh gods...what am I…"

She dropped her weapon.

"ANNA! Anna, come back! I'm sorry!"

Merida ran past in a panic, reaching out to feel for Anna. Anna watched as she missed by several yards, running deeper into the trees. After a safe distance had been established, she skulked back under cover.

It was true. What had just happened with Merida would surely unfold with the other Four, and next time she wouldn't be so lucky. She and Astrid had to leave. Now.

As she lingered in the shadows, Anna felt an intense stare, and she kept turning around, always feeling something was just on the verge of pouncing on her. The sensation grew so strong that it tore her stomach asunder. She didn't feel ready to return to face the others though...until she reached the cliff.

Looking into the hazy distance, Anna suddenly found her vision telescoping, the Ring letting her see far beyond her limits. Looking west, she saw fractured islands, an archipelago filled with ships and villages. She could see the mighty stone castles of DunBroch, and to its north Arendelle. The bustling port of Weselton sent cargo in all directions, pulsing to Anna's south. Following the road east led to Corona, surrounded by rolling hills and woodland and a beautiful sea.

These were the lovely things Anna saw, but at the same time strife met her eyes. In the archipelago, there were rumors running amok of raiders, terrible new ships amassed by Berserkers. The castles of DunBroch were drowning, stifled by shadow and eaten alive by goblins. In the Southern Isles, whispers behind closed doors, anger and resentment hanging like a cloud. Skitters in Weselton, fears and uncertainty with war on the horizon. Around Corona the sun was shrinking, and a deadly noose threatened to throttle the kingdom.

The world festered with sickness, and in horror Anna at last felt her eyes turned to the south of Corona. Terrible peaks and darkness hid a plain of ash where nothing of substance could grow. Foul creatures crawled across the suffocated land. Anna could see a mountain spitting fire high above its peak, and realized with a jolt that it was her destination.

Then she felt her gaze drawn to a tower that stood far above the ground. Orcs swarmed around it like ants, and its base outsized Arendelle's palace twenty times over. Her eyes were dragged up, past parapet after parapet, turret after turret, to the top...

She wanted to look away. She couldn't. Her gaze had been glued, and her will anguished as a terrible Eye confronted her. Screaming flames surrounded a narrow pupil, so dark that no light could hope to chase it away. It was looking for her, searching for her, knowing that she could see it. It was scanning the cliffs, it would fall on her any moment, the Eye would find her and eat up her very being and all the world with her.

With more effort than she'd ever exerted, she closed her eyelids. Heat tearing at her skin. Reached for her hand. The world howling, burning. Grasped the Ring. Yanked hard-

She collapsed on the ground, light restored around her. A faint shadow flickered above her, before it flew off to the southwest.


	20. The Parting of the Ways

Astrid dashed through the trees, desperately searching. "Anna, Anna!" She reached the cliff and looked around. "Anna!"

As if in response, she heard a body fall on the ground behind her. Whirling around she saw that Anna had appeared lying on the leaves.

"Anna!" Astrid rushed to her and helped her up. "Are you okay? Where's the Ring?"

"I got it," she held out its chain in her fist.

Astrid took a deep breath. "Thank the gods. Merida came back to the camp, said you'd run off. Everyone's looking for you right now."

"Astrid, we have to leave. She tried to take it, Merida attacked me over the Ring."

"I thought so." Astrid held out a couple of sacks, which she had filled with food, a waterskin, and a pair of blankets. "She said she'd gotten in an argument with you and scared you off. By the look in her eyes, though, I figured something else had happened. Are you alright?"

"Yes, but we have to leave," Anna repeated. "Now. If we go back to the camp another one of them could fall for it. It's too dangerous."

"I know, that's why I decided to pack for us." Astrid felt a sick tearing in her stomach. They hadn't had a chance to explain it to the others, she wouldn't be able to say good-bye to Hiccup. She had no illusions about their mission - they could very die before they saw each other again. Yet, she'd prefer that over seeing him turn into a monster. "We don't have to return to camp. I'm sure Jack will explain it to them."

"Yeah, he'll explain." Anna looked back, her face sad. "I just hope Elsa understands."

"I do," said a voice to the side. Astrid turned and saw Elsa coming out of the trees. "I understand that I'm not letting you go without me."

"No, you can't." Astrid stepped in front of Anna, wielding her axe. "You'll try to take it.! Go back to the camp, tell them we're leaving."

Elsa did not do so. Instead she stepped forward, her eyes soft and sad.

"Listen to us," Anna pled. "Listen to me! You don't know what it'll do to you Elsa. We saw it last night, you'll turn into a monster."

"You really expect me," Elsa ignored them, "to let my sister set foot in Mordor with only a stranger for company? You need a little more help than that."

"But you can't help." Astrid held her axe more forward. "Think about the prophecy! Look what the Ring did to Merida, it drove her mad, she just tried to kill Anna for it."

They backed up, and Elsa paused. "Anna, please don't run away from me."

Astrid scanned her face, wrought with sorrow. Then she heard footsteps behind her as Anna began to approach her sister. "No, what are you doing?"

Anna did not answer, but she drew close to Elsa. With a shaking hand she showed the Ring. "Look. This is why you can't come with us. Don't lie, you can feel it already trying to eat at you. It's too dangerous."

Astrid clutched her axe, holding it ready to swing at a moment's notice. Elsa stared at the Ring, then into her sister's eyes as she answered:

"You're right. I look at this, I close my eyes and I can see what it's promising me. I could be a powerful queen, Arendelle would never worry about war again. Nobody would treat me like a freak, I'd never be scorned or ridiculed."

She reached her hand up, and Astrid raised her axe. Her heart pounded as she watched Elsa take Anna's hand...and curl the fingers over the Ring, hiding it from view.

"But those promises come at a cost, a cost that I cannot look past. I'd lose my humanity, and I'd lose the most important thing in my life: you. If I try to take this Ring, I'd have to hurt you in the process. I've already almost lost you twice before," she shook her head, "and I do not want to risk a third time."

She took the fist holding the Ring, and pushed it close to Anna's heart.

"I don't care what any prophecy says. I don't care about what the Man in the Moon said. No ring, no Dark Lord has any kind of power that would make me hurt my sister again."

Anna tried to speak again. "I'm sorry, but it's too-"

"And even if you say 'no'," Elsa crossed her arms. "I'm still going to follow you. No matter what you try to tell me, I'm coming with you."

Anna looked at Astrid. They both shared the same understanding.

* * *

Jack perched on a branch, watching as the trio talked among themselves. He knew what they were discussing.

"Come on…"

They began to move along the cliff together, over to where it sloped down to the land below. With a sigh Jack leapt into the air and returned to camp, arriving just as Hiccup came running from the trees.

"I couldn't...couldn't find her," Hiccup leaned against a trunk as he caught his breath. "I looked all over to the east, no sign of her going on?"

He and Jack approached Merida, who was sitting on a log with her head buried in her hands. Thick red curls sheltered her face, and she was trembling. Rapunzel sat beside her, resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's my fault," Jack could barely hear Merida, she mumbled so badly. "It's all my fault she's gone."

"Look, you were just talking to her," Hiccup said. "If she got upset and ran off, then it's just-"

"No," she shook her head, making her curls bounce around. "I let the Ring get to me. I wanted to protect my home so bad that I was willing to listen to anyone who offered to help me...or anything. I tried to take it with force, I almost killed Anna for it."

Jack felt a shudder ran through the whole group, and a stab of fear struck at him when he realized just how close they had all come to a worst-case scenario.

"That prophecy was right," Merida's voice broke apart. "I'm just a pawn for Sauron. I couldn't even control myself."

"Hey," Jack knelt in front of her, trying to peer through her hair to find her eyes. "Listen to me, you were desperate. You still are, and you're scared. You had a moment of weakness. That doesn't make you a weak person." She didn't respond. "It was one mistake. Life will go on, you'll find a way to make up for it and move forward." He paused. "Trust me, if anyone knows, it's me."

Merida finally looked up, brushing her hair aside. Her proud mask had finally cracked, her eyes glossed with shame.

"Anna and Astrid are going off on their own," he continued. "Elsa's going with them."

"Wait wait." Hiccup's brow creased. "Astrid left with Anna? Without telling me? Without saying anything…" he quickly began to unravel, running his fingers through his hair. "She wouldn't just go without-"

Jack cut him off. "It was for the best. If they had come back here, the Ring would have tried to ensnare another one of you, especially you - you've already carried it for too long." He noticed the hurt look that Hiccup wore. "It doesn't mean that you'll never see her again. I'm sure that Anna and Astrid and Elsa will make it."

"What about Elsa?" Rapunzel asked. "What if she tries to take it?"

"From what I saw," he turned to stare after them, "I think she'll be okay."

There was a heavy silence. A lonely breeze floated through the trees, its soft voice singing a lonely song. Finally Merida asked, "What do we do now?"

"Head back to North's workshop?" Hiccup volunteered.

For a minute it seemed to be the unspoken agreement. But Rapunzel stood up. "No. We need to go to DunBroch." Everyone looked at her. "Merida's fears are real, her home _is_ in trouble. Pitch Black is laying siege to the land, and he'll win unless we stand up to him.

"Now listen to me," she broke off Jack before he could say anything. "Evil might be strong right now, but that doesn't mean we can't be strong too. And it doesn't mean the evil is stronger than us. The Ring is on its way to be destroyed. We can't escort it to Mount Doom, but we can fight against Sauron anywhere else we're needed. And right now we're needed in DunBroch. That's how we can help Anna and Astrid and Elsa. Let's go south and face Pitch Black together!"

Jack slowly stood back up and looked her in the eye. He could see her waiting for his response, ready to confront him if he tried to disagree. Instead he smiled.

"Now that's the spirit we need."

Everyone seemed to brighten, but none more than Merida. She rose from her seat and wiped her eyes. A fire seemed to light again, not the raging inferno that had tried to consume her, but a lantern offering more hope than she had seen for a long time.

"Merida, can you find your way home from here?"

She smiled. "Get me to the forest, and I can take you to my father's castle with my eyes closed."

"Good. Then let's go at once. Together."

"Together," echoed Hiccup.

"Together," agreed Rapunzel.

"Together." Merida readjusted the quiver on her back. "Shall we pack up?"

Jack marveled at the change that unfolded around him. The Ring's departure had transformed them: the shadows had retreated from their faces, the evil whispers and doubts and anxieties had been silenced in his mind. A warm feeling swelled inside of him, and a smile managed to bubble to his face. They packed as quickly as possible. All the time, Jack felt a new strength gathering inside of him, and soon he looked at the other three, all itching to leave.

"Let's head to DunBroch."

* * *

Anna passed the Ring to Astrid. "Here you go,"

Astrid passed it over her head, and felt its weight settle on her. "Got it." With that she set back into her meal, finishing off the last of a bunch of berries.

The forest below the cliff had started thick, but had quickly thinned as they walked. Now they sat at its edge. Wide open steppe unfolded before them. The river lay below, with the dirt road strung along its bank. Across the water lay more plains, and beyond them a thick gnarled wood which carpeted the earth.

That was not their path though. As she chewed, Astrid turned to the left, and saw for the first time the distant peaks of the Ash Mountains. Far in the distance, their faces popped above the horizon, their heads hugged with low clouds. The blue sky darkened above them. Finally seeing their destination sent a shiver through her.

"That's it," she pointed. "In the distance."

Anna and Elsa followed her finger. Anna took a deep sigh. "Well...we're not getting any closer sitting here."

Elsa set a hand on her sister's shoulder. "It'll be alright. We're going there together. And once we do, the Ring will be gone." She gave a soft smile. "Come on, let's get going."

They packed their bags again and crossed the grassland, keeping the river in their sights, turning their steps to Mordor.

* * *

 _Here ends the first part of the history of the War of the Ring._

 _The second part is called "The Mount and the Vale", an account focused on the journeys to Mordor and the Warren, the great Battle of Dunbroch, and the deeds of the Four._

 _The third part, "The Sun's Crown", tells how the great kingdoms aligned in the War, and shows the final defense against the Shadow as well as the fate of the Ringbearers._

* * *

 **THE GATHERING OF THE FOUR**

* * *

Alright, the first volume is done! There we are!

I want to thank my best friend Domosage (once again) for his help with my fanfiction, as well as my friend helenmarie95 for revising several chapters throughout the process. And of course, thank you to the readers who left reviews. Your feedback is essential, and I truly appreciate all of you!

Now, my current/future projects: as you can already tell, I'm planning the second and third volume of this fanfiction, but I'm going to be putting them on the backburner for now. At the moment I'm writing a Gravity Falls and a Bolt fanfiction, as well as my book.

Once again, thank you for reading my work, and I hope to see you around!


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